Who Will You Run To
by mchriste22
Summary: For Annie and Liam, falling in love was the easy part. Now their best intentions may not be enough to keep them together. Sequel to Can You Save Me by mchriste22.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **As promised, the sequel to _Can You Save Me _is here. I'm still blown away by the response to my first 90210 fic and I hope you all enjoy this as well. As you'll see fairly quickly, _Who Will You Run To _picks up right where we left our favorite West Bev students and you'll recognize some storylines from the show. Two storylines you won't see are Liam's Insta!Brother Charlie and Teddy coming out. The former because, well, Charlie bores me to tears and while I could probably squeeze him in here somewhere, I really don't want to devote the necessary time to his character. For similar reasons Teddy will not be coming out of the closet. I think they're doing a fine job of it on the show, but again, at its heart, this is an Annie/Liam story and while other characters will play huge roles, I don't want to devote the time required to do justice to Teddy's sexual awakening. ;p Hope that doesn't bother anybody.

If you haven't read _Can You Save Me _you'll probably be able to follow this just fine, but I think you'll get more out of _this_ if you've read _that._ Enjoy! M

Who Will You Run To

Chapter 1

The Los Angeles County Courthouse loomed large, filling the entire passenger window of Debbie Wilson's SUV as she pulled up to the curb. Her daughter Annie stared at the building, doing her best to ignore the tendrils of anxiety licking at her stomach. A mere three months ago, she'd been forced to climb the same stone steps and pass through the same glass doors to stand before a judge and relive what had been the most horrific night of her life. Vividly, she recalled the thunderous pounding of her pulse and the phantom vice that had gripped her heart as she'd waited to learn her punishment for the drunken hit and run that had ended a man's life.

So much had changed since then. Annie felt older, wiser and infinitely less alone as she prepared now to face yet another judge. Never in her most vivid nightmares could she have imagined a night worse than the one that left a man dead at her hands, but a month and a half ago, the impossible became reality. Jasper Herman, her lamentable ex-boyfriend, had finally shown his psychotic true colors. Turning the tables on Annie's own plans to bring him down, Jasper had trapped her beneath the Santa Monica Pier at gunpoint; the culmination of a yearlong plot to seek retribution for his uncle, the man she had unwittingly killed. What began as a game of cat and mouse had escalated into an obsession that put Liam Court on the receiving end of a bullet.

Briefly, Annie closed her eyes against the images accompanying the memory. The light beneath the Pier had been dim and yet in her mind the bright red of Liam's blood glowed against his white shirt. Although they'd only officially been a couple for a few days prior to the incident, Annie had already been hopelessly in love with him and every night, when dreams she kept secret forced her to relive the entire horrific experience, her heart stopped at the thought of what could have happened, of losing him. Testifying at Jasper's sentencing and doing her part to ensure he received the harshest punishment possible, promised to be Annie's cathartic revenge. At least…that's what she kept telling herself.

"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Debbie asked. Annie's eyes fluttered open and she turned to her mother. Concern etched deep lines into the older woman's brow. "My meeting isn't that important. I can cancel. We can drop Dixon off at school and be back here in half an hour."

"Thanks, mom, but no," Annie shook her head and flashed a bright smile. Gripping the door handle and maneuvering awkwardly in her form fitting skirt, she tried to exit the car as close to gracefully as possible. "I'll be okay. I need to…clear my head so some time alone will be good. And anyway, Liam, Silver and Teddy will be here soon."

Dixon was already climbing out of the back seat to switch places with her and he offered her a hand as she stepped down to the sidewalk. "Good luck, sis."

"Yeah, you too," she tried to sound sincere even though the jealousy was practically eating her alive. Wistfully, she watched her brother take her spot up front. "First day of senior year. Have fun for me."

"The first day is always overrated. You're not missing anything," he said with a dismissive wave and flashed a wide grin that made Annie roll her eyes even as she felt her own lips curve. The first day may be overrated, but this marked their last first day and the excitement was palpable. Still, she appreciated Dixon's indifferent façade.

"I'll be back as quick as I can," Debbie promised, checking her mirror for oncoming traffic. Lingering at the curb, Annie watched her family drive away until the SUV disappeared around the corner before turning to face the courthouse. The stone steps stretched upward, appearing to double in length as she stared at the imposing building. The bravado she'd summoned when her family was right there with her wavered. Sending Debbie away suddenly didn't seem like such a bright idea.

Rallying the sheer stubborn will that had led to her current situation, Annie set her jaw and shoved the anxiety aside. The last time she'd been here her own future had been on the line. This time, Jasper was the one in the spotlight. All she had to do was testify to his crimes. In truth, she looked forward to telling the court what had happened that night if it meant her ex-boyfriend would be out of her life permanently.

That 'if', however, was another stab to her confidence and made her stomach turn with nagging doubt. The assistant district attorney in charge of the case had promised that Jasper's confession would lead to more than adequate punishment, but her ex-boyfriend was a master manipulator. If the judge failed to be compelled by her testimony – or that of Liam, Silver and Teddy – Jasper could receive little more than a slap on the wrist. In no time at all he could be free to return to West Beverly High. A chill crept up Annie's spine at the thought of seeing him at school again, feeling him watch her from across the courtyard or around a hallway corner. If things didn't go well and Jasper once again became a part of their lives, it would be all her fault. After all, she was the one who'd killed his uncle in that hit and run and then fallen for his charms when he'd targeted her.

So deeply entrenched in that endless cycle of recrimination, Annie started in surprise upon finding herself at the top of the stairs, mere feet away from the glass doors. Distraction had carried her far, but now her resolve faltered. All the bravery in the world couldn't prepare her to face this alone. Crossing her arms, she shifted nervously from foot to foot and stared at the imposing entrance.

"Annie," Even though she recognized it, the low baritone made Annie jump and whirl around. The seldom worn kitten heeled shoes she'd chosen specifically because they looked responsible and mature, slipped on the smooth stone and she would have fallen if Liam hadn't been quicker. Grasping her shoulder and slipping a strong arm around her waist, he steadied her easily. "Whoa. Hey, I've got you. Everything okay?"

Annie expelled the breath she'd unknowingly been holding and gazed up at her boyfriend. Liam's icy blue eyes that had the ability to cut so deep they drew blood held nothing but concern as they narrowed to study her. All at once she felt both foolish and utterly relieved. Without speaking, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her cheek against the stiff fabric of his suit jacket. Liam needed no further encouragement to return the embrace, slipping a hand beneath her long, loose hair to squeeze gently at the nape of her neck. After a few all too brief moments of sharing his strength, Annie pulled back far enough to meet his eye.

"Everything's fine," she promised, kissing him quickly on the lips. "Now. I'm so glad you're here."

Liam glanced around, but kept his arms securely around her. "I thought your mom was gonna be here."

"She had to go to a meeting and I promised her I'd be okay," she explained, channeling her nervous energy into straightening his collar and tie. "I had the bright idea that I needed some time to myself to collect my thoughts."

He lifted a brow and glanced down at her hands at his collar. "Yeah? How's that going?"

"Oh, fantastic," Annie replied with an eye roll as she forced her hands to be still. "Can't you see how calm and collected I am?"

"Totally," Liam agreed as he guided her toward the entrance with an arm draped over her shoulder. The weight was reassuring and when he opened the door, crossing the threshold into the bustling lobby was easy.

As usual, despite the flurry of activity, the expansive space was oddly quiet. Much to her surprise nothing within had changed. The leather benches scattered about the perimeter still looked deceptively comfortable. Ficus trees still seemed to grow right out of the marble floor in custom built pots. At the back of the long room, a reception desk was flanked by two identical looking wooden doors that she knew from experience led to the actual courtrooms.

"Where's your mom?" Annie inquired after they had checked in and claimed one of the benches tucked against the wall, neatly hidden between two tall marble pillars.

"She couldn't make it," Liam replied, offering her a shrug of genuine nonchalance that thankfully hid no pain over coming alone. With Colleen and Liam, one never knew which snubs left a mark and which didn't matter and more than anything, Annie hated seeing her boyfriend hurt. Despite the general assumption that the rebellious bad boy had no feelings, she knew how easy it was for the people he cared about to break his heart.

Most days, though, Liam was cool to the point of being aloof – or anti-social if Silver had anything to say about it – and to her secret relief today seemed to be one of those days. Bracing his elbows on his knees, he gazed at her steadily. "So, what's going on? Last time we talked you were cool with this. Now you're freaked out."

"I'm not freaked," she argued in token protest.

"I said your name out there and you almost jumped out of your skin," he argued tipping his head back toward the entrance. Reaching out, he touched her bare knee, the gesture both comforting and erotic as every nerve in her body became acutely attuned to that places where his skin contacted hers. "Nobody would blame you if you backed out."

Contrary to their initial assumptions, the letters they each received were merely a request, not an iron clad subpoena. The prosecutors on Jasper's case had met with her, Liam, Silver and Teddy in turn explaining that since there'd been a confession the burden of proof no longer demanded their presence. Their testimony, however, before the judge could assure a stiffer sentence. Although Annie wanted nothing more than to keep her ex firmly in her past, a sense of responsibility wouldn't allow her to take the easy way out.

With effort she tore her gaze away from Liam's hand on her knee and tried to ignore the way his thumb was brushing absently over her skin. Slowly she shook her head. "You know I can't do that."

"I know you won't," he clarified. "But you definitely can."

She searched his face, feeling herself easily sway to the idea of forgetting the whole thing and going home. "Do you want me to? Back out I mean?"

"Hell yes. I don't want you in the same building as Jasper Herman," Liam replied as if the thought had been on the tip of his tongue all day and he was thrilled to finally say it out loud. "I want that psycho out of your life starting yesterday. But I know you and I know no matter how scared you are, you're going to get up on that stand and tell the judge everything."

"What if it's not enough?" she asked after a brief pause, voicing the concern that had been plaguing her nonstop and somehow managing to ignore the way her resolve melted in the face of Liam's fierce protective streak toward her.

"What do you mean?"

"What if I get up there on the stand, what if we all get up there, and the judge…doesn't care? What if Jasper works his manipulator magic and somehow gets off with a slap on the wrist? He could be back at West Bev tomorrow."

"Annie, that's…that's not gonna happen," he insisted, sitting up and turning on the bench to face her fully. "Where is this coming from?"

"I don't know," she sighed, suddenly sick of hearing her own panicked questions. "I guess I've just been thinking a lot about him ever since we got the letters."

"You've barely mentioned it," he noted with a frown.

"Yeah, well, you're very good at distracting me," Annie admitted with a coy smile. A month ago she would have turned red to the roots of her hair admitting how easily he turned her on. Now she could tease him almost as mercilessly as he did her. Liam had removed his hand from her knee and now the absence of touch plagued her acutely. Needing the contact, she laced her fingers through his. "I keep remembering all the times I tried to end things with Jasper. Every time he'd remind me what I'd done and how everything I said would be weighed against that if I tried to tell anybody about him."

"Wait, you're worried about _your _credibility?" Liam raised a brow skeptically.

"Yeah, I…I am," she admitted. "I want him gone. I want us to just…_be_ without worrying about Jasper. I don't want my record to be the reason he walks out of here free and clear."

Anybody else would have worked to assuage Annie's fears, making empty promises without qualm, but that wasn't Liam. Too often he'd experienced firsthand how arbitrary and unfair life could be. So, rather than offer her pretty lies, he said nothing at all and simply put his arm around her. Closing her eyes, Annie dropped her defenses and allowed herself a moment of complete vulnerability as she melted against him.

"No matter what, I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Liam said quietly. Annie craned her neck to meet his eye and found him incredibly near. So close, in fact, that she could feel his breath fan against her lips. "You know that, right?"

A few months shy of eighteen, most adults would have said he was too young to make that kind of promise, but she knew better. Smiling, she murmured. "I love you."

"Good answer," he replied with a grin that disappeared as their lips met. Annie sighed with contentment, her fingertips dancing delicately over his jaw. Liam knew a thousand different ways to kiss her and every one had her aching for more. At the moment, he went for slow and deliberate, coaxing her lips apart one millimeter at a time. His hand settled at her waist, clutching her tightly as he managed to pull her even tighter against him.

Because of their very public location, Annie was determined to reign in the passion between them that was always simmering just below the surface, waiting for the slightest excuse to boil over. The ficus trees and pillars artfully hid them from most of the lobby, however, a fact that she'd noticed the second they sat down. Knowing full well she was fighting a losing battle, she continued to resist.

"There you go again. Distracting me," she said between kisses.

"You're welcome," he said absently, sinking his teeth into her swollen bottom lip.

"Liam!" Annie squealed in surprise. Placing her hand on his chest, she laughed as she delayed his advances. "We're in a courthouse."

"So?" he challenged, his hand dropping lower to squeeze her hip. "No one can see us and I guarantee we haven't done anything illegal…yet."

He was teasing her, but underneath lurked the promise that he was game for whatever she'd allow. There were less than five people on the planet who's opinion mattered to Liam and only one of them was in that courthouse lobby. Annie kissed him again, her lips parting and granting the access he'd been after. As her pulse began to race, she wondered with amused horror what would happen if Liam knew how easily he could get her to do anything he wanted.

"You two seriously need to move out of this honeymoon phase before I just throw up all over you," Erin Silver's indignant snort of disgust cut through the lust fueled haze. Flushing a brilliant shade of red this time, Annie pulled away from Liam and brought a hand to her bruised lips. Silver was eyeing them with mock disapproval, hands braced on narrow hips as she bit back a smirk. Standing just behind her, rolling his eyes at the entire exchange, Teddy Montgomery waited patiently with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh goodie," Liam said dryly, his attention still focused on Annie. "Silver's here."

"Honestly, it's annoying," she continued, needling Liam. "Nobody is supposed to be that happy."

"Don't worry. I'm over it now," he promised, glowering in the brunette's general direction while winking at Annie. "You have that effect on me."

"Ew," she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "I don't want to have any effect on you."

"Okay, then I'll just start pretending you don't exist," he shrugged and turned his attention back to Annie, gaze dropping to her lips as he leaned closer. "Where were we?"

"Hey, Silver," Annie laughed and eluded Liam's advance as she managed to rise gracefully to her feet despite her heels.

"Hey," she greeted with a genuine smile, shaking her newly cropped hair out of her eyes. Glancing around, she took a deep breath. "You ready for this?"

With a look to Liam, who had risen from the bench as well, Annie managed a smile that only felt a little forced. "Ready as I'll ever be. What about you?"

"Oh, you mean am I ready to tell the judge how I pretty much stood around and did nothing while the rest of you got beat up and shot by Jasper?" she quipped, offering an overly simplistic summary of her role that night at the Pier. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I've prepared my ego to take that blow."

"Hey, I didn't get beat up," Teddy argued, speaking for the first time. "Court gets to take all the glory there."

Lifting a brow, Liam casually slung an arm over Annie's shoulders. "Chicks dig scars."

"So he's heard," she shot back, twisting away playfully as the easy way her friends discussed the events of that night back in July soothed her nerves. The jokes kept coming and, macabre as they may be, buoyed her confidence, reminding her that she wasn't in this alone.

"Uh…oh," Silver stammered suddenly as her hand shot out to grip Annie's wrist. The only one facing the entrance, Silver had a perfect vantage point of those coming and going from the courthouse. Following her gaze, Annie's smile fell, her fragile good mood shattered. Flanked by a small cluster of grim faced, somber suited adults, Jasper arrived. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been handcuffed and in the custody of police. Immediately, she searched for similar restraints but discovered his hands were jammed nonchalantly in the pockets of his black dress pants, his shoulders hunched and head bowed in that familiar way that screamed disenfranchised youth. Annie knew that, even though he was too far away for her to see his eyes, he was sweeping the lobby, judging and writing people off, as natural to him as breathing.

As the small entourage passed their group, Annie felt it the second her ex-boyfriend's gaze found her. Real fear closed her throat tasting metallic and acrid, proving the dread she'd experienced up to this point had only been the warm-up. The main act took the stage and she was suddenly petrified. For the second time that day, Liam saved her from ending up on the floor, this time by pulling her tightly to his side as she swayed, firmly grounding her to the here and now. Jasper's gaze swept over her, weighing and measuring, but the expression on his face never changed. Whatever he'd been through in the past month, he hadn't lost his ability to mask his true feelings.

They watched in silence as Jasper's group checked in and was immediately ushered through a large wooden door to the right of the reception desk. Somehow the soft click of the well-oiled latch carried across the lobby and collectively, Liam, Silver and Teddy breathed a sigh of relief. Annie did her best to fake one of her own, but her chest was locked up tight, her lungs trapped in a vice once again.

Silver shot a look at the sleek onyx faced clock directly above the desk. "I think that's probably our cue. Ready?"

"You guys go ahead, we'll catch up," Liam tipped his chin toward the door. Annie felt his hand locked around her waist squeeze with nearly bruising intensity and covered it with her own, wishing he'd hold her tighter. Silver opened her mouth to protest, but took one look at Annie and thought better of it. Nodding, she flashed a bright, but tight-lipped smile before succumbing to Teddy's guiding hand on her elbow.

Once their friends were out of earshot, Liam ushered Annie behind one of the pillars flanking their bench. Completely hidden from the rest of the lobby, he wasted no time. "I don't want you to do this."

"I have to," she said, but her voice was weak and lacked any kind of conviction. As her knees threatened to give out on her, she leaned against the cool marble pillar for support. She should have known better than to think she could fake anything in front of Liam.

"No, you don't," he insisted, bracing a hand above her head and hemming her in. He was angry, fighting against a flaring temper that flashed behind his eyes. Strangely enough, it actually made her feel better. "They have more than enough to nail him with the rest of us testifying."

She shook her head, still tightly gripped by fear. "I can't let him win."

"Annie-," he choked out her name in frustration and swallowed the rest of whatever he'd planned to say. Jaw set so tight she thought it might shatter, he stared at the floor while reigning in his temper. For several long, quiet moments she watched his chest rise and fall at her eye level, trying to ignore the tears pooling along her lash line.

Finally, he uncurled his fist and gently gripped her shoulder. "You don't have to prove anything. Not to me. You already beat him at his stupid mind games. Don't give him another chance to get inside your head."

"He's already in my head. I've been having nightmares since it happened. Can you feel that?" she asked quietly, guiding his hand so his palm lay flat over her pounding heart. He dropped his gaze, transfixed on her hands covering his. "I'm afraid of him and he knows it."

"Annie," he said her name again, a desperate and helpless plea that tore her apart.

"I know you hate this. _I_ hate this, but I have to face him. I can't rely on him being sent away," she said, each word another brick in the wall she was building to block out her terror. "Even the harshest punishment won't be forever. Eventually, he'll come back and if I don't show him I'm not afraid, he'll come after me again. You've been trying to tell me how psychotic he is for months. Well, I believe you."

"I picked a great time to be right," he muttered after a moment, straightening to his full height and wrapping his arms around her in a fierce hug. Annie returned the embrace with equal strength, hiding her face in the crook of his neck as she struggled to regain her composure. The depth of her trust in Liam was both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, she could let her guard down with him completely, unafraid to hold anything back. On the other, she hated being such a basket case.

After another handful of all too brief moments, she finally trusted herself not to break down. Sniffing, she pulled away and took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and wiping away the few tears that had slipped through her lashes. "Okay, enough. Let's get this over with."

"Hold on," he ordered gently as he cupped her face and swiped the pad of his thumb so softly over the sensitive flesh just under her lower lashes it almost tickled. Then the grip changed and he dragged his knuckles down her cheek before dropping his hand. When he lifted his gaze to meet her eye, they gleamed with determination. "Okay, now let's go."

* * *

Naomi Clark eased her silver BMW convertible into a parking spot in the student lot unusually far from the West Beverly High School main entrance. With the top up and flanked on each side by oversized SUVs, she felt invisible and for once appreciated it. Pulling her sunglasses down her nose, she peered over the rims at the landscape that appeared at once familiar and foreign. She hadn't laid eyes on the school in three months, not since the night she ran from the building with tears streaming down her face.

Closing her eyes, Naomi fought against the memories of her rape at the hands of her teacher, Mr. Cannon. That night, and everything that happened in it, was part of a past she planned to pretend didn't exist. Only three people knew the details – herself, Mr. Cannon and her sister Jen – and none of them were talking. Although Jen still threatened to have Cannon castrated on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

Smiling faintly, Naomi had to admit that the rape had brought about one non-horrible thing. Obviously stricken with post traumatic stress or temporary insanity after the encounter with Cannon, she had driven aimlessly around Beverly Hills for most of the night before arriving at her sister's near dawn. Apparently, the sight of her baby sister collapsing on her front step, body wracked by violent sobs, had convinced the older Clark sister that something was very serious and very wrong.

To Naomi's surprise when the inevitable fighting began it wasn't over whether or not she'd deserved what happened, but Jen's insistence they go to the hospital and report it. Only the onslaught of more desperate tears broke through her older sister's righteous indignation. Even when she explained why she couldn't go to the police, Jen was amazingly supportive.

"Nobody would believe me," she murmured, a mantra that had been on her lips many times over the past three months. Whenever the smallest urge to come forward whispered in her ear, she remembered that her predicament was completely her fault. Lying about sexual harassment and then proving a real rape, all against the same man, was the stuff of pathetic 90s made-for-tv movies. The idea of telling the world only to watch as Cannon got away with it because she'd been a vengeful, spiteful brat sickened her.

The only course of action that made her feel better was ignorance. Pretending nothing had happened. That the Pass the Torch Party had ended fabulously and she'd been in such high spirits about finally being a senior, she'd sought out her sister and made amends. They'd celebrated the reconciliation by a three month sojourn through all the most decadent locales in Europe before returning triumphantly to Beverly Hills.

The fantasy was only half a lie and it bolstered Naomi's spirits. As she lay awake at night, plagued by demons of the rape, she'd rehearsed her story, learning it backwards, forwards and inside out so when the nosey, jealous wannabes at West Bev begged for details to live vicariously through, she wouldn't miss a beat. Smiling outwardly as a spark of the old Naomi Clark confidence flamed into a steady burn, she pushed her sunglasses back up her nose, grabbed her newest Gucci bag and slipped, cat-like, from the BMW.

The weight of a dozen curious eyes followed her as she sauntered through the parking lot, faltering only slightly when the recently repaired school sign caught her eye. Somehow, through the tears, humiliation and pain, she had registered its smashed and broken state during her frantic escape that night. Lifting her chin defiantly, she ignored that thought as well.

The sight of the familiar corridors presented her with the first real challenge to her resolve. Somehow, in all of her late night obsessing, she hadn't considered what the sight of the long, locker-lined hallways might do to her. First, her feet froze to the terra cotta tiles as her brain juxtaposed images of a dark, empty tunnel with the bustling, brightly lit thoroughfare it was now. Closing her eyes behind her sunglasses, she tried to block the mental picture and swayed, stumbling backward into a cool granite pillar.

Clutching the straps of her bag tightly against her shoulder, she cursed the huge flaw in what she'd considered a perfect plan. Why hadn't she thought to do some kind of dry run? She never wore an outfit without testing it out for movement restrictions, unflattering lines or weird bunching issues and yet it failed to cross her mind that actually going _in _the school where she'd lived through the most hideous night of her life might be a necessary step in successfully returning.

"Hey, Naomi!"

One at a time, she pried her eyes open, the exuberant greeting reaching through the mild panic attack and giving her focus. An entirely too perky brunette she vaguely remembered stood in front of her with a 1,000-watt grin. With a hand that only shook a little, she lowered her glasses and frowned. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"Of course you know me, silly," the brunette rolled her eyes and brushed her long hair over her shoulder. "But I did look a little different the last time you saw me. It's Stephanie."

Naomi continued to draw a blank.

"Your chemistry partner last semester!"

"Oh…oh my god!" Naomi exclaimed, removing her sunglasses completely and gaping in shock. No wonder she hadn't recognized her. The slender girl in the trendy Jimmy Choos with the lustrous hair that would make a shampoo model jealous had been about fifty pounds heavier and clearly loving the softer side of Sears when Naomi had last copied her answers off a chemistry test. "Wow! You look so much better."

Stephanie's grin faltered slightly under the backhanded compliment, but only for a second. "Th-thank you."

A few moments passed. Naomi raised her brows expectantly, waiting for more, but the other girl just continued to smile. "Okay, then…Bye."

Pushing off the pillar, Naomi strode purposefully down the hallway, the initial shock of seeing the inside of the school diluted by the strange encounter with her former chemistry partner.

"How was Europe?" the other girl asked in a breathless rush, falling into step beside her.

Mentally cursing Facebook, Naomi answered dryly. "Awesome."

"Wasn't it?" Stephanie practically squealed. "I was there, too. In Switzerland mostly, but I did take a couple trips to Prague and St. Petersburg. The sightseeing was amazing."

"But the shopping sucks," Naomi declared.

"True," she agreed, barely pausing for breath. "I wish I could have gone to Italy. Milan sounds awesome."

"It is," Naomi agreed, arriving at her locker and twirling the combination.

"Is that where you were?"

"No," she replied, offering no other information as she pulled a few items from her bag and placed them on the single shelf.

"Oh. Where were-."

"Look, Stephanie," Naomi cut her off with an icy look as her patience fizzled. "I think it's great that you went all extreme makeover on yourself. Obviously, the place you stayed in Switzerland has excellent doctors because I can't see a single scar. But we're not bffs, so is there something specific that you wanted or did you just want to make small talk until my ears fall off and I bleed all over my Prada skirt?"

Most people would have crumbled under a full frontal attack of Naomi's acerbic wit, but she noted with exasperation that Stephanie was either too brave or too dumb to let the harsh words burst her happy little bubble.

"You're right, of course. I'm so sorry," she apologized, rolling her eyes presumably at her own foolishness. "I just wanted to thank you."

Naomi blinked in surprise. "Thank me?"

"Being lab partners with you was…a challenge," Stephanie confessed. "But all the scathing judgment about my hair, clothes, weight, etcetera was the best motivation I've ever had. I spent the past three months looking forward to this moment so I could tell you that to your face. Without you I wouldn't be the person I am today."

"O-Oh," Naomi stammered, the short speech leaving her unsure how to react. Accepting gratitude for shamming a girl – probably one who had a perfectly acceptable personality to begin with – into a whirlwind transformation didn't feel right. Especially when even now she could barely remember a handful of their conversations. But Stephanie was beaming so brightly Naomi could only smile in return. "You're…welcome. I think. Forget what I said about that scar comment. I didn't mean…I'm sure you worked very hard the past three months."

"Pfft, are you kidding?" Stephanie waved a hand. Leaning in she whispered conspiratorially. "The Swiss have _amazing _techniques. The money was totally worth it. When my mom saw the results she booked herself into the same clinic and got the works."

"Oh. Well, I've heard that…about the Swiss," Naomi agreed with a forced smile, returning to her locker. Textbooks wouldn't be handed out until later and she'd spent the past few days being pampered, not shopping for notebooks, so she really had nothing to rummage through, but she faked it anyway. There was only so much chagrin she was capable of so early in the morning.

"Oh, by the way," Stephanie interrupted her own soliloquy on the miracle of liposuction and lowered her voice. "I heard what happened. I'm so sorry."

Naomi's heart leapt to her throat, strangling her as her skin went ice cold. She knew about the rape! How could she know? Eyes wide, she turned to the brunette and hissed. "What are you talking about?"

Stephanie started and glanced at the other students bustling by her as if they might be of some assistance. "I'm talking about your best friend hooking up with your boyfriend. The whole school knows. Neither one of them had the decency to keep it a secret."

For a moment, Naomi heard nothing but the rush of blood between her ears as she struggled to digest the words. "I-I'm sorry, what-."

"Annie and Liam," the other girl explained, as if addressing a small child. "They're together. Like _really _together."

Naomi deflated as relief flowed from the top of her head to her toes in one hot, then cold wave. Stephanie Whatshername didn't know about the rape. The secret was still safe as was her reputation and position in the school. She wouldn't spend her days dodging pitying looks from classmates who only pretended compassion when deep down she knew they thought she got what she deserved. Leaning her almost feverish head against her locker door, she smiled faintly.

"Naomi, are you okay?" Stephanie wouldn't allow her a moment's peace. "I'm so sorry if I upset you. I thought you knew."

"Hmm? Oh! Annie and Liam, right," Naomi rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I really couldn't care less."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah," she scoffed, finally deciding she'd done enough pretend locker spelunking and shouldered her bag. "If Annie wants Liam, she's welcome to him. I was done with him months ago."

"I didn't know."

"We broke up right before school ended," she explained casually, despite the bitter taste the words left in her mouth. Now that the euphoria of her secret still being intact had passed, reality began to sink in. Liam had moved on and not with just anybody. With Annie. How disgustingly ironic. Without thinking, she continued. "I dumped him."

"Really?" Stephanie asked, aiming for aloof but landing closer to desperately curious. "Why?"

"Are you kidding? I was going to Europe for the summer. Why would I waste my time with a Beverly Hills boy when I was going to be surrounded for three months by European men?" she smirked, giving Stephanie a wave over her shoulder as she swept into the ladies room. Holding the plastered on smile, she ducked into the first open stall, secured the lock and sagged against the door. Once again, bile churned in her empty stomach and she eyed the toilet, wondering if she should just throw up and be done with it. Betrayal and humiliation washed over her in ever strengthening waves as the news fully registered. Why hadn't she seen this coming? Sure, she hadn't expected Liam to pine for her for three months, but at most she'd figured she'd have to deal with some sort of summer fling. Another surf bum with zero fashion sense like Ivy that he just hooked up with to pass the time. All it would take was one particularly skimpy bikini and she'd catch Liam's attention, dragging him away from…whatever he'd used to replace her.

But Annie wasn't a surf bum. She wasn't Ivy and Liam hadn't just been passing the time. Naomi could lie to herself about a lot, but no amount of self delusion could make her believe that whatever Liam and Annie had was a summer hook up. Even if she broke out of her prudish mold, that girl just didn't _do _casual.

"Oh, god," she moaned as her stomach heaved. She should have known. Liam had been after Annie since he'd come to town and Annie couldn't uphold the Girl Code to save her life. Hot tears burned behind her eyes, but Naomi refused to cry. She'd done enough of that over the summer to last a lifetime. Instead, she focused on the anger that accompanied the betrayal of her supposed best friend.

Drawing a deep breath, she tilted her head back and stared at the bright lights, blinking back the tears. Hysterics were pointless. Only action would get results. Annie Wilson might be a pro at stealing other people's boyfriends, but she was Naomi Clark. Those who stood in the way of what she wanted got tire tracks up their backs for their trouble. And what she wanted right now was everything to be like it was before. That meant, Annie or no Annie, Liam Court was hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **It's my goal to update once a week. Technically, on the west coast at least, I totally made that goal. For anybody bugged by how long the first chapter was, I'll always be too verbose for my own good, but most chapters will not be as long as the first one. Thanks so much for reading and replying. I really appreciate those who take the time to leave a word or two about what they enjoyed.

Oh, and for those who asked, I LOVED "Holiday Madness." ;p

Chapter Two

Debbie Wilson had been living in Southern California for over two years now, but she still couldn't get used to the monotonously beautiful weather. Seventy-five degrees and not a cloud in the sky, she slipped out of the driver's seat and handed the valet attendant her keys. Blinking against the sun despite her dark glasses, she made her way to the hostess stand of the elegant café. Only in Beverly Hills would a tiny restaurant with seating for less than forty people have valet service.

"Hi," Debbie greeted the predictably beautiful young blond behind the stand with a smile. "Colleen Sarkosian has a reservation. I'm with her, but I'm not sure if she's here yet."

The hostess ran her finger over the touch responsive screen of a computer system discreetly mounted within the wood podium. Smiling faintly, but with genuine warmth, she gestured. "Follow me."

The blond led the way inside and Debbie immediately removed her sunglasses so she could maneuver through the tightly packed tables without tripping over an errant chair. As her eyes adjusted to the significantly darker atmosphere, she noticed secluded booths lining the walls, invisible from the front entrance and she suspected the street as well. For the first time it occurred to her that her companion might be trying to keep their meeting a secret; an interesting, but unsettling idea.

Debbie Wilson and Colleen Sarkosian had only two things in common: their kids and the latter's husband Jeffery. A few weeks ago, those commonalities had combusted in a showdown of marriage shaking proportions when Debbie had ambushed Jeffery, Colleen, Liam and Annie by exposing the man's propensity toward infidelity. She hadn't heard from Colleen since that night at Mastro's and she hadn't expected to which made the phone call she'd received the night before all the more intriguing.

The hostess came to a halt beside the booth farthest from the sunny entrance and gestured toward the unoccupied seat facing the door. Colleen sat on the opposite side, half her face hidden behind oversized dark sunglasses.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" the blond inquired, placing a sheet of thick cream paper on the table. The menu which obviously changed daily was hand written in a cursive script reminding her of the long hours she spent in grade school perfecting her penmanship.

"Coffee, please," Debbie replied, noting the cup Colleen gripped tightly between both hands. With an ingratiating nod, the hostess took her leave and the two women were alone.

Clearing her throat, Colleen broke the ice before it had time to thicken. "Thank you so much for coming."

"You made it sound very important," Debbie replied formally as she tried to gage the other woman. The brunette mystified her on many levels. While she felt in no position to judge another woman's decisions concerning either marriage or child rearing – especially considering her pending divorce – she could not understand why Colleen stayed with Jeffery Sarkosian. The man not only took her utterly for granted, he had an embarrassingly immature grudge against his stepson. Debbie didn't doubt Liam's knack for challenging authority on a level that surpassed most seventeen year olds, but that in no way explained Jeffery's spiteful vendetta. "What can I help you with?"

"I want…I want to divorce Jeffery," Colleen confessed in a rush that led Debbie to believe she'd been mulling the phrase over for a long time.

"That's…good?" she tried, deciding at the last moment not to make assumptions.

"That's scary," the brunette clarified with a nervous smile. Clutching the coffee cup between both palms, she leaned over the table. "I was hoping you could help me."

Debbie's eyes widened. "Help you with what? I-I mean, what can I do?"

"I'm guessing you know that Liam caught Jeffery with another woman last winter," Colleen began. When Debbie nodded she dropped her gaze and continued. "I made him sign a new prenup with a clause stating in the event of infidelity on his part, I would get half of everything."

"Are you serious?" Debbie demanded, surprise overwhelming her decorum. The fact that Jeffery had so actively pursued her over the summer seemed all the more audacious.

Smiling grimly, Colleen nodded. "I may be a doormat, but I'm not a complete idiot. I thought even if Jeffery couldn't keep his promises to me, at least he'd never want to part with any of his precious fortune."

"That was an astounding bit of foresight," she pointed out. "With what happened at Mastro's, he's screwed."

"No, I underestimated him," she shook her head. "The clause doesn't define infidelity. Short of catching him in the act on video, his high priced attorneys would convince the judge there were no grounds for the case inside of minutes. I need proof."

"Proof?"

"Evidence that shows intent to cheat," she clarified. "If I could gather enough to support what we already know, I might have a case. Which is why I called you. Would you be willing to testify if came to that?"

Debbie didn't even pause to deliberate. "Of course."

"Oh, thank you," Colleen replied with a heavy sigh, relaxing for the first time since Debbie had arrived. "I wasn't sure if you would."

"Are you kidding?" Debbie raised a brow and paused while their waitress delivered her coffee. "Ambushing Jeffery was probably the most fun I've had in ages."

The other woman laughed. "I would never have the guts to do something like that."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," she mused, stirring in cream and sugar before taking a sip. Eyeing the other woman over the brim, she couldn't help indulging her curiosity. "What happens if you can't get proof? Will you divorce him anyway?"

Colleen was silent for a moment. "You think I should, don't you."

"I would," Debbie nodded. "But you're not me. One thing I've learned this summer from all the unsolicited advice I've received from well meaning friends is that no two divorces are alike."

Removing her sunglasses, Colleen stared pensively out the floor to ceiling plate glass windows. Even at ten in the morning heavy traffic negotiated the intersection. "I can divorce Jeffery any time I want…if I can swallow the idea of making it in Beverly Hills completely destitute. Maybe if it were just me, I'd do it. Or maybe I'd stay and just pretend everything was fine. But Liam makes both of those things impossible without ironclad evidence of infidelity."

"Let me guess. Liam sees it black and white," Debbie smiled knowing full well how her daughter's boyfriend felt about his stepfather. "He's young enough to still be idealistic."

"About this anyway," Colleen admitted sadly. "Maybe he's right and it should be that simple. Lord knows he's begged me to do it more than once. He said he could quit school and get a job to take care of me."

Debbie dropped her gaze, her heart twisting painfully. "Liam's a good kid."

The brunette chuckled. "He is to _me_. I think you're the first person who's ever said that about my son and meant it."

"Well, he took a bullet for my daughter," Debbie shook her head at the memory and despite the anxiety it caused, an incredulous smile curved her lips. "That more or less permanently endeared him to me."

"She's been good for him," she acknowledged. "Annie's…not his usual type. He doesn't talk about it, so he thinks I don't notice, but I do. She balances him out, makes him work a little harder. I feel like I should thank you for letting him see her."

"Consider us even," Debbie assured her, thinking back with disgust to the previous year when Annie had been under Jasper's thrall. "I recognize Annie again and Liam's at least partially responsible."

"I wonder how the hearing is going," Colleen remarked, her icy blue eyes clouding with worry. Debbie felt a pang of guilt herself for not being there. Even if Annie had assured her she needed to do this alone. The brunette checked the time on her blackberry. "It must have started by now. I feel like I should be there even though Liam made me promise not to come. He said there was nothing I could do."

"Annie said the same thing," Debbie admitted dryly, picking up her menu and scanning the items for the first time. "I know she's upset about missing the first day of her senior year."

"School started today?"

Debbie laughed at the other woman's stricken expression. "I take it Liam doesn't think he's missing anything?"

"I'm going to kill him," Colleen shook her head and snatched the menu from the table. "At least I can be fairly confident he's actually going to show up the majority of the time this year."

"Why's that?"

"Annie's there," she replied, lifting a brow and glancing at Debbie over the top of the menu briefly before returning her attention to the limited, but freshly made choices. The assertion sunk in with a mix of pride and a strange apprehension she couldn't really quantify. She tried to be a 'cool' mother, remembering as best she could how it felt to be seventeen, but she couldn't ignore how close Annie and Liam had become in such a short period of time. In her mind, her daughter was far too young to be so serious about a guy. More terrifying still was the fact that in just a few years, Annie would be the same age she was when she married Harry.

Luckily for Debbie's sanity, the waitress arrived at that moment to take their order and she had to focus her energy on making a decision about her meal. She had to get Annie out of high school in one piece long before she needed to worry about a wedding.

In a small room just off the courtroom where Annie was currently delivering her testimony, Liam, Silver and Teddy waited silently. Jasper's attorneys had successfully convinced the judge to keep the courtroom clear of any unnecessary persons, which apparently included the witnesses. One by one, starting with Silver, they had filed into the hall of justice, Annie going last. The bailiffs shuffled them around so fast Liam hadn't been able to do more than catch her hand as they passed each other in the doorway. If the cold, clammy skin and the wide eyes of a deer caught in a headlight were any indication, the wait hadn't done anything to calm her nerves.

For twenty minutes, he'd managed to sit still on the hard wooden bench, half listening to Silver and Teddy's conversation, offering monosyllabic answers when pressed for comment. As time passed, however, and Annie surpassed his record for time spent on the stand, Liam grew more agitated. Having loosened his tie the second he returned to the tiny closet of a room, he now yanked it over his head and shoved it into his jacket pocket. Scowling, he cursed through clenched teeth. "This is bullshit."

"What is?" Teddy asked, both he and Silver regarding him with surprise over his sudden break of silence.

"Annie should be done by now," he said, staring at the door as if he could somehow see through it, across the hallway and through the wall into the unexpectedly small courtroom. "None of us were in there this long."

"She's got a lot to say," Silver pointed out. "We only had the Pier. She had what…nine months with the guy?"

"Yeah, don't remind me," Liam muttered, sliding his icy gaze toward the girl.

"I just mean that they have a lot more ground to cover with her. Which is good, right? I mean, the more she can show everybody what a psychopath Jasper is, the longer he gets sent away," Silver looked to both boys for confirmation.

"Makes sense to me," Teddy replied with a nod, but Liam scoffed and rose angrily to his feet.

"What makes sense and what is are two totally different things," he declared darkly.

Up to then, Silver had been patient with Liam. They were all stressed and on edge, but her patience was wearing thin. "Meaning?"

"A guy like Jasper doesn't make it to seventeen with no record unless he knows a few tricks," he explained. "Annie knew that. It's why she…why she let him blackmail her instead of turning him in. If there's a way for him to get out of this, he'll use it."

"But he confessed-."

"I know," he ground out through clenched teeth. Hours ago he'd offered Annie the same pathetic logic knowing full well it was a crock, but what else could he do? When she looked at him with those wide brown eyes, utterly lost and desperate, he wanted to promise her anything to make it better. Although she'd tried to hide it, he knew she was terrified of testifying against Jasper even before she admitted it to him. The fear didn't stem solely from the notion of being in the same room with the bastard for the first time since he'd nearly killed her either. Revealing everything Jasper had done meant opening up the door to memories Annie had spent the past few months working hard to forget. Memories that brought her back to a time and a person of which she wasn't proud, a person she never wanted to be again. While Liam rarely wasted time with regrets, he'd made enough mistakes to have a few even his remarkable capabilities of repression couldn't overcome. He hated that Annie was in that courtroom right now, forced to confess who knew what and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

Suddenly, the walls of the already tiny room seemed to constrict and he knew he couldn't sit in there one moment longer without punching something or someone.

"Where are you going?" Silver cried, when Liam wrenched the door open.

"For a walk. I need some air."

"But…you can't. We're supposed to wait in here."

"For what, Silver?" he asked incredulously. "We gave our testimony. No one will even notice I'm gone."

"But-."

"And if they do," he reached into his pocket and produced his cell. "Text me."

With those parting words, he strode out into the hallway. The door closed on Silver's unintelligible but clearly angry objections to his departure, but Liam didn't care. Already he felt better. Still annoyingly helpless, but a definite step up from completely useless.

Liam retraced the path they'd traveled to the witness room and emerged in the bustling hall that connected the courtrooms. Almost another waiting room, wooden benches lined the walls, blending in with the floor to ceiling wood paneling. Doors to other courtrooms were interspersed throughout. At the far end of the hall, the exit to the main lobby was securely closed. A bored guard sat uncomfortably on a stool next to the metal detector framing the only way in or out.

"So much for that walk," Liam sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and wandering toward the edge of the hall, claiming a space next to one of the benches where he had the best view. As much as he wanted to be anywhere else, exiting the security checkpoint seemed a little too extreme. He promised Annie she wouldn't have to face Jasper alone and he planned to keep it as best he could.

The lobby door opened with a metallic clang that disturbed the library like hush. Several lawyer types proceeded through the scanner, breaking off into groups of two or three as they progressed to their respective courtrooms. Next a few who were clearly witnesses or spectators judging by the way they gaped at the metal detector and the imposing architecture stumbled in with far less confidence. They scampered after their attorneys and smoothed seldom worn suits and skirts uncomfortably. Liam sympathized. Avoiding ties was almost motivation on its own to stay on the straight and narrow.

Thinking the procession over, he reached for his cell phone for something to do when the door opened one more time. A first cursory glance became a wary double take when he recognized the kid being escorted through in handcuffs. Frowning, he searched his memory only mildly surprised when he made the connection. Lucas Garrity, a street racer he'd beat a handful of times when he first arrived in California a year and a half ago. Not a friend, but not someone he'd pissed off or picked a fight with either, which was a rather short list.

The guard escorted Lucas past Liam to a wall bench just a few feet away. With a curt nod he ordered. "Sit."

"Yessir," Lucas rolled his eyes and slouched into the seat, the ill-fitting dark grey suit contrasting harshly with his multi-hued blond hair.

Liam studied him silently, debating whether or not to strike up a conversation. He hadn't seen anybody connected to that part of his past in over a year and small talk was definitely not his style. The guard stepped across the hall to confer with a coworker and Lucas cursed him under his breath and shifted, trying to get comfortable with his hands secured tightly behind his back. When he looked Liam's way, he noticed him for the first time and gaped. "Son of a bitch. Liam Court, right? Man, I always knew you'd end up in a place like this."

Liam smirked as the other boy took the decision out of his hands and dragged him into conversation. "Yeah, but I'm not the one in cuffs this time, Lucas. I'd ask how it's going but, uh…what'd you do?"

"Come on, now," he tilted his head and grinned. "You know with me, the better question is what _didn't _I do?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're hardcore," Liam rolled his eyes. "Seriously, man. What?"

"Oh, a little reckless endangerment, speeding…The usual."

"And they've got you in cuffs for that?" he scoffed.

"Did I mention it's my third strike and I had an open bottle in the front seat of a stolen car?" Lucas asked, the grin never leaving his face.

Liam closed his eyes and shook his head. There was risk taking and then there was just plain stupidity. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, but it was a sweet car," Lucas replied, leaning his head back against the wall and staring dreamily at the ceiling. "1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Black, badass and perfect. Classic American muscle."

Liam opened his mouth to retort, but shook his head and expelled a heavy sigh. Lucas was one of the few racers with an appreciation for muscle over foreign. For a '67 Cutlass in prime condition, he might contemplate theft…and a whole lot of other things he'd supposedly given up long ago. "I hope that keeps you warm at night when they throw your ass in juvie."

"Oh, no my friend," Lucas shook his head and craned his neck toward Liam. The sarcastic grin still lingered on his lips, but there was fear behind his eyes. "I turned eighteen last summer. I'm getting myself a one way ticket to Chino, man."

For the second time in five minutes, Liam was stunned. Plenty of adults had thrown the word jail in his face, but as a minor he'd never thought of it as more than an idle threat. "Wow. Dude, I'm…I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. The piece of shit attorney my dad hired might grow a brain and get me a country club stint and rehab, but I'm not holding my breath. Dear old dad is in the mood to teach his fuck up son a lesson," Lucas sighed. Silence prevailed for a moment before the handcuffed boy abruptly inquired. "What'd they get you for?"

"Nothing," he replied with a smirk. "I'm on their side today."

"No shit!" Lucas outright laughed. "Liam Court on the right side of the law. I'd heard the rumors, but I would have sworn it wasn't true. What happened?"

"Ah…my girlfriend's ex is a little insane," he said, choosing his words carefully. "And trigger happy. He tried to kill her. And me. He got pretty close. I testified at his sentencing today."

"Trigger happy?" Lucas's eyes widened and Liam caught an unmistakable flash of excitement. "You mean he shot you?"

"Yeah. Not something I'd recommend," Liam quipped, remembering vividly the searing pain that had ripped through his side that night under the Pier. He'd been in countless fights, received plethora of cuts and bruises, and broken bones, but none of that even came close to what it felt like being shot at close range.

Lucas was staring at him with unexpected admiration that made Liam uncomfortable. Whistling low, he shook his head.

"What?" Liam asked warily.

"Gunned down by your girlfriend's crazy ex," he marveled and then laughed loudly, earning him a few glares from those around them. "I am oddly not surprised. The way you burned through the girls at the races I guess it's no shock you pissed off a boyfriend or two."

"_Ex_-boyfriend," Liam reminded him, emphasizing the 'ex' part. "And…whatever, man. You were hardly Mr. Monogamous."

"Dude, I had nothing on you," Lucas insisted, still grinning. "You know, Vanessa still talks about you."

"Vanessa?" he repeated with heavy disgust, so surprised to hear the girl's name. "I haven't thought about her since…"

"The morning after?" Lucas suggested, raising his brows suggestively.

The other boy had a point, but before Liam could fire back a retort, Lucas's errant guard returned and snapped his fingers. "You're up, Garrity."

"Time to face the executioner," Lucas sighed, rising with some difficulty to his feet given his hands still trapped behind his back. He lifted his chin in Liam's direction. "Nice to see you, man."

"Good luck," he nodded, watching the pair disappear into the courtroom next to Jasper's hearing. The surreal moment lingered long after. Memories of his street racing days that hadn't surfaced in almost a year came to the forefront of his mind. Considering what Lucas was facing, Liam had a rare instance of being grateful that Jeffery shipped him off to the wilderness. The thought made him a little nauseous.

During his musings, he'd wandered down the hall, coming to a stop in front of the solid doors behind which Jasper's hearing was presumably still in session. Talking to Lucas had distracted him, but now his impatience returned with a vengeance. Liam wanted to be out of the courthouse and put as much mileage between Annie and Jasper as possible. He didn't care where, so long as it made her forget what she'd had to face today.

He was just about to return to the witness room, when he heard movement from the other side of the door. Standing aside, he held his breath as a bailiff opened the double doors. Jasper and his attorneys were the first to exit. The boy who only weeks ago had tried to kill him barely gave him a parting glance as he was led away. Liam tried to gage how Annie's testimony had gone, but the defense attorney's faces were masks. The prosecutors followed closely thereafter their expressions decidedly hopeful.

But Liam only had eyes for the slight figure bringing up the rear. Annie's head was bowed, her hands clasped before her. He felt a flash of dread as he reached for her, saying a silent prayer that she was okay. "Annie."

She jumped a bit at his touch, but when her head lifted, the smile that greeted him was bright. "Hey," she melted into him without hesitation and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The tension and nervous energy that had been radiating from her in palpable waves before the hearing was gone and finally something in Liam's chest loosened as he held her.

"How'd it go?" he asked immediately when she pulled away.

"Great," she asserted without hesitation, eyes aglow with satisfaction and relief. "Awesome, actually. So much better than I'd hoped. What are you doing out here? I thought you were waiting with Teddy and Silver in the witness room."

"I got bored," he shrugged. "And Silver wouldn't shut up."

"What a jerk," Annie scowled in mock reproach. Liam brought a hand to her face, tipping her chin so she had no choice but to look him in the eye. He spent a few moments studying her for any sign of lingering stress.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked, the pad of his thumb skirting the corner of her mouth. Annie already considered this her personal burden to bear, but he couldn't let her carry it alone. "Jasper didn't try anything, did he?"

"Liam, there were armed guards," she reminded him. Leaning into his touch, her lashes briefly fluttered shut before she lifted her gaze to his again. "But yes. I'm sure. The judge listened and…Jasper couldn't look at me. I think that was the best part. I don't know if he was ashamed or angry or what, but I know I got to him. I won. Now I can finally put it all behind me, put it behind us."

Liam puzzled over the way Annie always linked their relationship to Jasper, the way she seemed to think that until her ex was completely out of the picture they'd be stuck in some kind of limbo. But since he'd had enough of Jasper Herman to last him a lifetime all rolled into one day, he changed the subject. "What about the sentence? What did the judge say?"

"Nothing. He's going to deliberate over lunch," she explained a little petulantly. "The hearing will resume in a couple hours."

Liam managed to stifle a groan and instead tried not to sound completely transparent when he asked. "Are…we staying?

"You're off the hook. We've all been excused," Annie answered with a knowing grin. "The prosecutors promised they'd let me know as soon as the sentence is handed down."

Liam breathed a sigh of relief and took her hand. "Then let's get the hell out of here."

"Gladly," Annie's bright smile returned, but she stopped him short when he moved toward the exit. "Why don't you make sure Teddy and Silver know they can come out? I'm just going to go to the ladies room."

Liam sighed automatically at the thought of all the questions Silver would assault him with the second he opened the door. "Sure, why not? I haven't been interrogated enough today," he said dryly, starting down the small hallway to the witness room.

"Liam, wait," Annie followed him through the threshold into the empty space. Rising on her toes to frame his face, she pressed her lips to his. Eyes widening briefly with surprise, he happily returned the kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked a breathless moment later.

Annie shrugged as she backed away, discreetly licking her lips. Brown eyes flashing with mischief, she grinned. "To thank you for being amazing. And because I can."

Turning on her heel, she disappeared before he could form a response. An idiotic grin curved his lips and he made his way down the hallway slowly. Silver would pounce on him and never let him hear the end of it if she saw him so happy. But he was, actually, for the first time in a long time. His mother had kicked Jeffery out and while she hadn't filed for divorce there was talk of it this time. A huge step up from the last time his stepfather had been caught cheating. Annie was finally getting the closure she needed with her ex and he'd soon be out of their lives. Last, but certainly not least, he actually wasn't in trouble with anybody, for anything.

The realization made him pause and if he hadn't been in such a good mood he might have allowed a small niggle of doubt to ruin the day. Instead, he brushed aside the vague feeling of foreboding and refused to consider what new catastrophe was lurking on the horizon.

The Beverly Hills Court House wasn't the type of place one expected to get lost, but much to Annie's chagrin that's exactly what she was. A harried looking court reporter had rattled off directions to the nearest restroom and apparently she hadn't paid close enough attention. Although she thought she'd followed made each turn exactly, the hallway she faced was lined on both sides with identical, nondescript wooden doors. No signs or plaques set any one of them apart as her destination. She pulled her lip between her teeth and debated retracing her steps.

As she stood there, alone in the eerily silent hallway, curiosity slowly got the better of her. The doors lining either side were actually identical and evenly spaced along the shiny marble floor. Too small to be more courtrooms, Annie wondered if they were offices or conference rooms. Maybe someone within could point her in the right direction. She had to be close. There was no way she'd mistaken the court reporters directions so completely.

The first door she tried was locked. The second opened into a small, cramped room. The walls were lined with floor to ceiling shelves and every inch of space was crammed with thick legal volumes. The third and fourth rooms yielding similar results.

On a whim, she crossed to the opposite side of the hallway and tried the door without a second thought. The handle stuck for a moment, but turned easily enough, although it took all her strength to wrench the heavy door open far enough to peer within. The rooms on this side of the hallway were deeper and two of the built in shelves stopped at the base of tiny barred windows. The thick iron bars gave her pause and she took a step further into the room as she studied them. Weak sunlight filtered through the thick leaded glass, highlighting the dust motes that danced through the air. The shelves in this room were bare and as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she noted the scars and scratches in the wood. The room reeked of disuse and neglect. No one had been in there for a long time and something warned her she shouldn't be either.

"Have you come to gloat?"

Annie jumped at the unexpected query and the heavy door slipped from her grasp, closing with a solid thud. An instant later, recognition dawned and all the panic and fear that she'd triumphed over in the courtroom took her breath away in a swift one-two punch to the gut. She wanted to run. Every nerve screamed at her to lunge for the door and escape. Instead, she stood helpless as her gaze traveled slowly to the end of the room and met that of her ex-boyfriend. Her throat was too dry to swallow. "Jasper."

The room grew maddeningly quiet as he stared at her and Annie silently screamed at her disobedient body to run. The mental walls she'd built before the hearing were crumbling, weakened by the euphoria of stepping down from the witness box after the last question had been asked and answered. She wasn't prepared for this confrontation. She'd never win.

When he finally spoke, Annie was almost relieved for the distraction from her internal panic. Tipping his head toward her, he said. "You shouldn't have let that close."

Blinking, she frowned. "What?"

"The door," he clarified as if speaking to a small child. The wary expression morphed into amusement. "It's locked from the outside. Now you're just as trapped as I am."

The words shook her from the grips of paralysis. Panic, no longer just a vague concept, took hold and she lunged for the door. Uselessly, she twisted the handle and tugged, but of course it wouldn't so much as tremble in the frame. A disembodied thought nearly made her laugh. Only she could get herself locked in a room with the homicidal ex-boyfriend she'd just testified against.

Then, just as she decided unequivocally that her situation couldn't get any worse, the floor, the walls, the room, the entire building began to shake.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Growing up in Kansas tornado country earthquake survival wasn't a high priority, but that didn't mean Annie hadn't paid attention once she reached Beverly Hills. After a split second of mind freezing shock when the building started to shake, survival instinct kicked in and she dove under the scarred wooden table. For a few seconds that felt like an eternity, she stared at the underside of the table and willed the shaking to stop. The actual quake didn't scare her, but the feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. Being trapped in a room with Jasper was bad enough, but stuck under a table with him while Mother Nature exacted her wrath on Southern California was almost too much to bear.

The bookshelf directly in front of her began to shimmy across the dusty tiles. Annie watched, mesmerized, as the huge piece of furniture moved a centimeter at a time. Then behind her something groaned and a second later a crash had her gasping and scrambling away from a threat she hadn't seen coming. One of the shelves against the outer wall had pitched forward and kicked up a cloud of dust as it came to rest at an angle against the table. If Annie hadn't been safely beneath it, she would have been crushed.

Now panic began to set in along with an ever quickening heartbeat. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to get her breathing under control before she hyperventilated. Somehow through it all she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and the overwhelming weight of a familiar gaze.

Jasper crouched under the opposite end of the table, starring at her while the world trembled.

When the telltale tremors began, Naomi was still in the ladies room. Having grown up in Beverly Hills, earthquakes were more of an annoyance for her than anything else. As the walls of the stall she sought shelter in began to shake, she rolled her eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Seriously? _This_ needed to happen today, too?"

Annoyed, but not stupid, Naomi wasted no time in shouldering her purse and rushing out of the bathroom. Students were racing into classrooms to duck beneath desks and crowd the doorways. Struggling to maintain her balance as the quaking floor did its best to upend her, she searched for a place to take refuge.

The decision was taken out of her hands when a pair of strong male arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her into an empty corner. Too startled to breathe, Naomi was pushed roughly against the wall, facing the freshly painted surface. A hand braced itself against either side of her, pinning her in an awkward embrace.

If it hadn't been for the familiar and jarring scent of her 'savior's' cologne, Naomi would have contentedly stayed motionless until the earthquake ended. But as soon as she recognized the cloying scent her throat locked up, her stomach rolled and in her mind she was thrust back into Mr. Cannon's office to that horrible night three months ago. Memories of fear and disgust washed over her, so vivid she wondered if maybe she'd never escaped. Perhaps the summer had been a fantasy her mind conjured up to help her survive the violation in which she was still caught.

Like a heroine straight out of a horror movie, she couldn't stop herself from seeking out her own worst nightmare. Even though she already knew what she'd find when she turned her head and looked over her shoulder, Naomi couldn't stop herself from doing exactly that. Rather than extend the agony by turning her head slowly, she craned her neck with such whiplash speed, it took a moment for her eyes to catch up. When they did, when they saw the midnight black eyes staring out of the visage that had haunted her dreams, there was only one thing she could do.

Naomi opened her mouth and screamed.

Just when Annie had resigned herself to an eternity crouched beneath the table like some nightmarish vibrating carnival ride, the earthquake stopped. The silence that fell roared in her ears, her gasping, shallow breaths echoed in the unused space. Darting a quick glance at Jasper, she climbed hastily out from under the table, ripping her skirt in the process. Even though she knew it to be useless, she ran to the door and tried the handle. Her heart plummeted to her shoes all over again when she found it still securely locked.

Jasper took his time crawling out from beneath the makeshift shelter, brushing the dust from his pants as he stood. "Still locked, huh?"

The sound of his voice sent shivers up her spine and she bit her lip against the fear that accompanied it. The door was solid, the lock unbreakable. Whether Annie liked it or not, she wasn't going anywhere. Swallowing her growing unease, she turned and faced him. "Yeah. What are you doing in here anyway?"

"Awaiting my fate," he replied, lifting his brows and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"In a…storage room?" she pressed, eyeing their surroundings skeptically.

"The judge's office is across the hall," he explained. "This was the closest secure place to stash me while my attorneys stuff their faces and suck up to His Honor. How about you? Just couldn't stay away? You sought me out for one last goodbye?"

Annie rolled her eyes in disgust. "I was looking for the ladies room."

"Ah," he nodded, strolling casually back to his chair and propping his feet on the tabletop. "You made a wrong turn."

"Ya think?" she taunted, surprised by her own audacity. The sight of him entering the courtroom had nearly sent her spiraling into a panic attack. Somehow, here in close quarters under zero adult supervision, she felt her fear slowly dissipating. Tilting her head, she narrowed her eyes. "Something's different about you."

Jasper regarded her steadily for a moment before looking away and shrugging. "You're imagining things. You always had a vivid imagination."

"And the last time I saw you, you were just a scared little boy who was pissed I wouldn't play your games," she replied, stung by casual insult.

"Bold words considering you're trapped in here with me," he said, impressed and doing nothing to mask it. He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers. "Especially since I'm not in handcuffs."

"If you really wanted to hurt me, I think you would have done it by now," she asserted, mostly convinced of the truth of her words.

"That's… not entirely true," he allowed. "A month ago, under that pier, I planned on killing you. Not gonna lie."

The blood in her veins turned to ice at the casual admission, but she held tight to the courage that had inspired her thus far. "What changed?"

"Drugs," he replied with a shrug. "Good ones. Better than the ones I stopped taking right before we met."

"Drugs?" she frowned. "You mean like medication?"

"That's right."

"F-for what?" she wondered, too stunned for sarcasm.

Jasper shrugged and stared at his hands. "Paranoid this, borderline that. Basically? I'm fucked up, Annie. Always have been. And now I can't pretend otherwise."

"I suppose that's my fault," she countered, recovering from the momentary shock of realizing all the times Liam had referred to Jasper as a psycho hadn't been an exaggeration. "If only you'd been able to carry out your plan and kill both Liam and I instead of just shooting him, you'd be able to keep up the charade."

"Hmm. Liam Court," Jasper mused, staring at the dusty windows high on the wall. A half smile curved his lips, but his eyes were cold and dark, two tiny pinpricks of malice. "It's too bad he survived. Could have saved you a broken heart."

"Excuse me?" she demanded, sickened over the casual way he wished for Liam's death.

"Well, you're still with him, aren't you?" he asked, clearly disgusted by the idea. "Or has he already gotten bored and gone back to Naomi?"

"Yes, we're still together," she replied after wrestling a long moment with which part of that incredibly offensive statement to address.

"Give it time," he shrugged, watching her with those piercing eyes that seemed black in the dim lighting. A part of her knew she was being baited, that she should just ignore him and wait for his attorneys to remember he'd been shut up in the holding cell and set her free. But her psyche had been through so much already that day, Jasper's confidence seeped beneath her fragile façade of bravery. She may not be curled into a terrified ball, but she was still vulnerable.

"What makes you so sure that Liam and I won't last?"

"Because he's using you."

"For what?"

"Take your pick," he laughed. "Sex, an ego boost? I'll bet adding the principal's daughter to his list of conquests was a huge trip."

"Former principal," she pointed out in an effort to withstand the assault. "My dad got fired."

"Whatever, doesn't matter," Jasper continued, unfazed. "Maybe all that pressure he's been under to get his shit together finally got through his thick, Neanderthal skull and he's using you to clean up his reputation. You're such a sucker for a tortured soul."

"I'm not a sucker for anything."

"Right," he nodded, rolling his eyes. "You keep telling yourself that. I mean I could be wrong. There was nothing tortured about Ethan, right? I'm sure you didn't tell me how he went through half a dozen girls his sophomore year before running away to Montana. I certainly was never tied up in knots about my uncle's death or my feelings for you. And boy do I get along well with others, right?

"Shut up."

"Liam, of course, is the most well balanced individual I've ever met," he went on, blithely ignoring Annie's order. "He's so even-tempered. I mean, he'd never fly off the handle and punch someone in the face for daring to look at his date or be forcibly removed from his home to some neo-hippie wilderness boot camp because his parents had decided he needed to be scared straight. You never told me much about your ex-boyfriend back in Kansas, but I'll bet he was just the picture of mental health, too."

"What's your point?" Annie snapped, her control a tenuous thread under the verbal onslaught. He was wrong, of course. Liam was nothing like Jasper or Ethan. Nothing.

"My point, Annie, is that there's no such thing as a tortured soul," he leaned forward now, bracing his elbows on his spread knees and gazing at her intently. "The thing you're drawn to is darkness and danger, but when you get it, you don't know what to do with it. See, underneath guys like Ethan and Liam…it's just more darkness. They're not looking to be saved."

"But your different, I suppose?" she sneered, latching on to the obvious omission like a handhold on the wall of the pit she was trying to climb. Straining her ears, she tried to hear even the slightest sound of activity outside to indicate that her purgatory was coming to an end. Unfortunately, all she could hear was the continued drone of Jasper's voice as he picked her apart.

"Maybe," he allowed, unsure of himself for the first time. Annie stopped trying to will the door open with her eyes to swivel her gaze to him. "At least I want to be. I really loved you, Annie. That's the real difference."

"Liam loves me."

Jasper shook his head, his voice once again turning razor sharp. "No, he doesn't. Haven't you been listening? Liam Court isn't capable of loving you. He's only capable of using you until he gets tired of playing nice. The second that happens, he'll drop you and jump right back into Naomi's bed."

"Stop mentioning, Naomi," Annie demanded, but her voice was weak. If she thought it would do any good, she would have added a please, but she still had a little pride left. Tears were so close to the surface, though, if he brought up Naomi one more time she was afraid she'd break.

Using that otherworldly skill he possessed that allowed him to pinpoint her weakest link and exploit it, Jasper lifted a brow. "Can you really blame him? Don't tell me the thought hasn't crossed your mind."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied stubbornly.

"Sure you do. It's the same thing everybody else who sees you with Liam is talking about," he continued to needle her. "They're all wondering when Liam's going to end his self imposed demotion to the minors and get back to the big leagues. If it's not Naomi, it will be some other bombshell with a wild child reputation. There's no way a guy can go from her to you and not feel like he gave something up in the sex department."

Annie's skin grew hot, her cheeks flushing a brilliant red that rivaled her hair. Hot tears of anger and humiliation blurred her vision, obliterating his smug countenance. He was right, of course, and she hated him so much for it she couldn't breathe. In the heat of the moment, Liam always managed to make her forget everything but the electricity between them. Afterwards, when she could form coherent thoughts again, she could never help but wonder how she compared to not just Naomi but all of the girls in his past. With her limited experience, she wasn't delusional enough to believe she ranked anywhere near the top. More than once the worry gnawed away at her to the point where she had almost broached the subject, but she wasn't sure she could deal with the inevitable truth.

At that moment the door burst open and an armed guard appeared in the doorway. With one hand he gripped the handle, the other hovered near his gun. Relief coursed through her, making her dizzy and Annie could have kissed him for saving her from the verbal battle she'd effectively lost.

"What are you doing in here?" the guard demanded, regarding her warily.

"Nothing," she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I got stuck in here during the earthquake. I was just looking for somewhere safe."

"You need to get out of here," the guard relaxed slightly and stepped back, allowing her space to slip through. He tipped his head toward Jasper. "This kid is in a lot of trouble."

Annie didn't reply, but she paused in the doorway and glanced at her ex-boyfriend for what she hoped would be the final time. Jasper's features were schooled in a neutral mask, but his eyes caught the light, glinting in a way that made it seem as though he were laughing. Lifting her chin, she walked away, her spine ramrod straight as she refused to give into the convulsive shudder begging to race through her.

As she made her way back to the main lobby, Annie struggled valiantly to reign in her spiraling emotions. Jasper understood nothing about her relationship with Liam. Even mellowed by drugs, he was still certifiable and just because he'd been gifted with the annoying ability to exploit her weaknesses didn't mean…well, it didn't mean anything. She repeated that, like a mantra, until the tears stopped burning behind her eyes and the tight knot of dread in the pit of her stomach ebbed away.

"Annie!"

Silver called her name the second she entered the lobby, but Annie only had eyes for Liam. To her horror she caught herself gauging his reaction as if she could weigh the depth of his feelings for her in a split second. His head whipped toward her at Silver's cry, eyes hopeful and wide. Relief came off him in palpable waves and his shoulders sagged in the split second it took to recognize her. Immediately guilty, she met them halfway and happily went into Liam's arms.

"Where were you?" he demanded, after holding her for a long silent moment. "You scared the hell out of-."

Suddenly desperate to prove Jasper wrong, Annie responded by rising up on her toes and pulling Liam's mouth to hers. One hand slid around his neck, fingers buried in the thick, dark hair. With the other, she clutched the lapel of his suit jacket, holding him close. After a full second's surprise, he returned the insistent kiss. She parted her lips, using her tongue to all but demand he do the same. Strong, large hands fell to her hips, gripping her as possessively as she held him. Annie kissed him until her lungs screamed for oxygen and then for a few moments longer. When at last she could stand it no longer, she dragged her teeth over his bottom lip as she pulled away and felt his hands curl into fists at her hip.

"I scared who?" she asked breathlessly.

"I…um, Silver. You…she-she was terrified," Liam had to fight for the words, earning him a very unladylike snort from the willowy brunette. He was saved from her retort by a ringing cell. Not that he would have noticed anyway. Another earthquake could have ripped through the building and Liam would have been oblivious. "What was that for?"

"A victory kiss," Annie replied after a moment, untangling her fingers from his hair and smoothly tracing the line of his jacket as she grabbed the other lapel. A strange euphoria went through her, and she tightened her grip, pulling him even closer. Jasper was wrong. Liam loved her. She could feel his heart racing beneath his rapidly rising and falling chest. That kiss had taken his breath away and he'd responded with enthusiasm. So, even though she'd already decided not to tell him about her the incident with her ex, she wasn't lying when she grinned and added. "We won. Jasper's going away and he's out of our lives."

Liam grinned in return and kissed her again. By the time he was finished, she was nearly swooning on her feet. The only thing keeping her upright was her grip on Liam's jacket and his hands around her waist.

Dragging his thumb along her cheekbone, he narrowed his eyes. "Why are you covered in dust? Where were you?"

For the first time, Annie noticed the dust clinging to her clothes and hair. Her face began to itch where it came into contact with her skin. Hastily, she began brushing it off. "I, um, got stuck in a holding cell."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Leave it to me to pick the room that locks from the outside," she laughed in self-deprecation. Layering the lie with truth, she told him about hiding under the table while book shelves crashed around her, only leaving out the glaring detail of Jasper's presence. "I might have been stuck in there all day if a guard checked the room."

While she was speaking, Annie concentrated on shaking the dust out of her hair and scrubbing it from her face. In part, out of necessity and partly to refrain from having to look Liam in the eye while she lied to him. In the long run, she told herself, it didn't matter. Jasper's poisonous words had been just that: words. Empty and pointless. Regardless of the judge's sentence there was no way anything that happened in that room could come back to haunt her.

A few feet away, Silver let out a whoop of joy that broke through Annie's inner monologue of self-assurance. Gleefully, she held up her cell. "That was Navid. School's been canceled due to the earthquake."

"Seriously?" Teddy balked. "Was it worse over there or something? That couldn't have been more than a five."

"Hey, hey!" Silver held up a cautionary hand. "We do not question school cancelations. We embrace it like the awesome gift it is."

"And enjoy another day of not having to be at that place," Liam agreed, wrapping his arms around Annie's waist from behind and pulling her to his chest. Settling into the backwards embrace, she smiled, finally feeling fully at peace.

Silver's phone beeped as a text arrived. Quickly, she read the message. "Ooo, sweet! Earthquake party."

"What's an earthquake party?" Annie asked.

"Usually an excuse for someone whose parents are out of town to ruin a lot of furniture in the guise of earthquake survival," Silver quipped.

"But in this case," Teddy explained. "It's one more night of celebration before school _really _starts."

"Awesome," Annie smiled, wrapping her arms over Liam's. A party sounded like the perfect way to mark a new beginning and put Jasper in the past where he belonged. "If anybody deserves a night of celebrating, I say it's us."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The sun had started its descent to the horizon when Annie and Dixon arrived at Liam's house. Immediately, she noticed something that definitely shouldn't have been there.

"Oh great," she mumbled upon noting the shiny black BMW tucked under the carpark near the house. She recognized that car, knew it to belong to Liam's stepfather. Parked as it was, the implications were frighteningly clear.

"What's wrong?" Dixon asked, eyeing her from the passenger seat as she shifted to park, but left the engine running. Her brother wouldn't be staying. As soon as she got out, he'd be in the driver's seat and pushing the speed limit to Ivy's house. They were all heading to the earthquake party and Annie knew the terms of Dixon's grounding meant she was supposed to drive, but she figured what Debbie didn't know, wouldn't hurt them. Plus, she was sick of being her brother's taxicab.

"Nothing," she dismissed the question as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Liam and Jeffery's estrangement was hardly a state secret, but at the moment she didn't want to waste time explaining things to Dixon. On the drive over her mind had been on a new plan she'd been forming. One that would quiet the echoes of Jasper's dire warnings and delete the word 'bored' from Liam's vocabulary. Digging through her closet, Annie had located a stash of clothes she'd bought a few months ago on a shopping spree with Naomi of all people. Under her friend's influence and eager to reinvent herself after the Jasper debacle, she'd purchased an entirely new wardrobe far more suited to Naomi's flashy, brazen style, than her own. Most still had the tags on them.

Knowing the party was at a beach front property in Malibu, Annie had summoned every ounce of exhibitionism she possessed and for the first time donned the skimpy white bikini Naomi had insisted she buy. Strapless and constructed of the bare minimum amount of fabric necessary to still be considered clothing, Annie had never had the guts to wear it.

The bikini was hidden underneath an ice blue Grecian style mini dress that she only now realized reminded her of Liam's eyes. Another ensemble she'd been too chicken to wear, mostly because the skirt ended just north of mid thigh when she was standing. Still, paired with sky high heels, the dress made her legs look impossibly long and the light color contrasted nicely with her summer tan. Susceptible as Annie was to self-doubt, even she thought the effect was perfect. Liam wouldn't know what hit him.

Mindful of the ridiculously short skirt, by the time she climbed out of the car, Dixon had already sprinted around from the passenger side. Expectantly, he held out his hand, eagerness and impatience radiating off him in waves. Annie rolled her eyes and handed over the keys. "You're pathetic."

"And you're crazy short," he fired back, awkwardly climbing behind the wheel and fiddling with the mechanics to push the seat back. "How am I supposed to drive like this?"

Annie leaned over and crossed her arms over the open window. "Technically, you're not supposed to be driving at all, so I'd watch it with the short jokes, Baby Bigfoot. You are subject to my whim, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Dixon grumbled, securing his seat belt now that he was satisfied with the seat position. Giving her a sidelong glance, he started the engine, grinning blissfully as the Vue began to purr. "Music to my ears."

"Boys and their toys," she smirked standing up, her bare arms still crossed. "You're as bad as Liam."

"Ah, no. Nobody is as bad as Court," Dixon clarified. "I could be driving a twenty year old Fiat and I'd be just as happy. See you at the party?"

"Yup, we'll be there," Annie promised even as her gaze wandered nervously to the Jeffery's BMW. "Drive safe."

"I will," Dixon promised, already backing out of the driveway.

"And don't get caught!" she called after him. "Because I'll hang you out to dry! I'll say you knocked me out and stole the keys."

After her brother roared out of sight, Annie turned back to face the house. The GTO was parked in its usual spot in the driveway and she studied it briefly as she always did. She'd been hoping to convince Liam to let her drive it again that night, figuring the outfit would put him in a pliable mood. But as her gaze strayed back to the hulking black BMW, the less likely that hope became.

The short flight of stairs leading to the front door exposed the obvious kink in Annie's plans as the form fitting mini crept its way up higher on her thighs. Tugging at the hem, she pushed the door bell and made a mental note to avoid stairs as much as possible. A melodic tune echoed inside the house, dying away, but the music didn't completely fade.

Looking over her shoulder toward the sound, she realized that it was coming from the old boat house Liam affectionately called a shed. From this distance the music was little more than heavy bass that she imagined was so loud within the concrete floor vibrated. With sickening certainty, she knew her suspicions were correct. Jeffery was back.

"Annie, hi," Colleen opened the door and Annie turned to face her. The older woman's face was slightly blotchy, her eyes puffy and red, telltale signs of recent tears. "You-you look very nice."

"T-thanks," she replied, self-consciously tugging the short skirt lower. Warring emotions roiled in her stomach. Part of her wondered if her boyfriend's mother thought she looked too slutty. The other, the part that knew Liam was hurting and it was Colleen's fault just wanted to get away from the woman before she said something she'd regret. "I heard music from the shed. Is Liam-?"

"Yeah, he's down there," the brunette nodded, pain etched into every line of her face.

"Okay, I'll, um, I'll just go down there, then," Annie fumbled, turning carefully on her higher-than-normal heels and double timing it down the stairs.

"Annie, wait," Colleen begged after she'd taken only a few steps. Closing her eyes and cursing mentally, she turned, but held her ground forcing the other woman to come to her. Eyes full of tears, Liam's mother had to take a few moments to compose herself before speaking. "He's…he's really angry."

_No kidding,_ Annie thought as a brief moment of silence emanated from the shed between songs. Tipping her head toward Jeffery's car, she shrugged one bare shoulder. "I figured."

"He listens to you," Colleen nodded. "Could you…would you talk to him? Please? I just, I really think I'm going to lose him this time and I-I don't think I can handle that."

_Then you shouldn't have let your cheating husband back into your life_, Annie wanted to scream, but Colleen's pain stopped her from even a watered down version of what she really felt. Any other day, she would have been torn between loyalty to Liam and a hard wired inability to blatantly disregard a request from an adult. Jasper's influence, however, tipped the scales in Liam's favor. The very thought of doing anything to alienate herself from him made rising tendrils of panic grip her heart.

"I'll talk to him," she said carefully. "But I'm on his side. And even if he does listen to me, no one can convince Liam to do something he doesn't want to do."

Colleen swallowed, no doubt choking on pain and pride, although with how many times she'd taken Jeffery back after he'd abused Liam or cheated on her, Annie didn't know how she had any pride left. "I know. I know it's too much to ask that he trust me. I'm going to have to earn it. Go ahead. Get him to that party tonight and make him have fun."

"That I can promise," Annie replied, unable to repress a smile even as she desperately hoped she wasn't blushing. The plans she had for her and Liam that night involved a lot of fun – just not the type she'd share with Colleen in a million years.

The grass made the trek across the yard difficult. Her thin heels sank in the soft earth, but Annie persevered, her mind wandering to the inevitable carnage that waited for her in the shed. She was almost glad the boat was gone. Liam surely would have done some serious damage to it otherwise. With each step the music grew louder until she felt the vibrations with every bone in her body. Tentatively, she peered through the dusty window in the door, hoping for a hint as to what she was walking into, but Liam was nowhere to be found.

"Great. I'm going in blind," she sighed aloud, although she couldn't hear it over the wailing guitars that now overshadowed the driving bass. Twisting the knob, she pushed open the door and ventured into the unknown.

* * *

Naomi didn't stick around West Beverly long enough to hear the announcement that school had been called off, but even as she drove frantically through the congested post-earthquake traffic, her mind was still trapped there. Long after the quaking had stopped, she'd continued to scream, unable to reign in her terror until Mr. Cannon had wrapped his hand around her throat and placed his mouth directly next to her ear.

"It's over!" he had shouted, surprised when her cries abruptly stopped and his voice carried through the hallway. Glancing nervously around, he needn't have worried. Nobody paid attention to them amidst the maze of toppled lockers and scattered debris. Softly, he'd continued. "It's over, Naomi. You're safe."

"Get off me," she had cried, flailing her arms in a wild and desperate attempt to put distance between her and her rapist. Pressing her back against the wall, she was overly conscious of her rapid breathing and the almost indecently low neckline of her top. Mr. Cannon's eyes, however, never wavered from her face. Somewhere she'd found the courage to lift her chin and look him in the eye. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I teach here," he'd replied slowly as if explaining it to a small child.

Naomi's eyes went wide. "What? No. No, you can't. You're supposed to be gone."

"Things change, love," he had murmured, shoving his hands in his pockets. A slow smile spread across his lips as he watched her squirm. "Some things, of course, don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"People still won't believe the boy who cried wolf," he had said. Then the smile dropped and he invaded her space once again. Instinctually, Naomi's hands had come up to ward him off. She closed her eyes as he leaned in closer, his breath an evil caress against her skin, making her shudder. "Don't go getting any ideas that it will be any different for you."

Fear had frozen Naomi to the spot, her lungs barely functioning. When she'd finally opened her eyes several long moments later, Cannon had disappeared. Relief made her knees buckle. Everything in her seemed to thaw. Tears spilled down her cheeks, creating two perfect tracks of black as her mascara ran. Hastily, she'd shoved her sunglasses on and ran toward the exit she had so recently rallied her courage to enter.

The drive to her sister's, the place she now considered home, passed by in a blur of tears and hysterical sobbing. Naomi had no idea how long it took to traverse the chaotic streets and she didn't particularly care. All she wanted was to be in a place that felt safe. Miraculously, she made it up the long driveway and parked her car with a modicum of finesse. But the tears wouldn't stop and she broke the heel of one of her shoes as she stumbled toward the door.

"Dammit," she cried, limping up the front steps as she fumbled in her purse for her keys. When they weren't immediately visible, she nearly upended the bag in a fit of hysterical temper. At the last moment before her patience snapped, light reflected off the diamond studded dual 'C's of her Chanel keychain.

Unlocking the door, Naomi gracelessly hopped over the threshold while simultaneously removing her broken shoe. Breath hitching, she stared at the stiletto heel, bent toward the sole at an awkward angle. They were utterly useless and despite the price tag, uncomfortable to the point of pain. She'd only bought them because they were the prefect shoes to go with her First Day of Senior Year outfit. Countless hours of careful planning had gone into each piece of her ensemble.

"What a stupid waste of time," she muttered, still staring at the shoe.

"Naomi? What are you doing…" Jen paused halfway up the winding staircase, her eyes going wide as they took in Naomi's tear-stained appearance. "What happened?"

Naomi blinked, her gaze taking a meandering path to her sister, then back to her broken shoe. The sight of that wrenched heel shattered what remained of her control. Screwing up her face, she hurled the designer shoe over the railing into the living room below where it landed with a distant clatter.

"Naomi!"

Ignoring her sister as she ignored the buckle and ruined the other shoe by ripping it off her foot, Naomi hurtled down the staircase. The broken shoe had landed in the unused fireplace in the living room. She laughed scornfully. "That's perfect. That's exactly where these things belong. Who has a fireplace in California anyway? It's as pointless as these freaking heels."

Rather than rush down the stairs, Jen merely folded her arms. Naomi felt the weight of her judgmental and appraising glare, but she didn't care. Heedless of what was actually in her purse, she let the bag slip from her shoulder and crash to the floor, lip glosses, pens and her cell phone skittering across the tile. Smearing mascara all over her face, she swiped at her tears and charged across the living room to the bar that had barely been touched in the past eight months.

"What happened, Naomi," Jen asked again. "Why aren't you at school?"

"You want to know what happened?" she demanded, her anger mounting as the waterworks continued. Why couldn't she stop crying? She hadn't even cried this much the night of the rape. A heavy crystal decanter of something brown was perfectly flanked by four pristine tumblers. Yanking the stopper from the bottle, she threw it in the fireplace, vaguely dissatisfied by the dull thunk. With little finesse, she sloshed liquor into one of the tumblers and downed it all in a single gulp. The alcohol scorched her throat and tasted awful. She'd never developed a taste for brandy, but she poured another and pointed at her sister. "I'll tell you what happened. There was an earthquake at West Beverly."

"Yes, I know," Jen replied calmly, descending a few more steps, her hands draped protectively over her belly. "There was an earthquake here, too. Your niece didn't enjoy it very much."

"Oh! Oh really? My _niece _didn't enjoy it, huh?" Naomi drained the glass once again as she stalked across the room. Passing by the fireplace, she tossed in the crystal tumbler, enjoying the satisfying crash as it broke into hundreds of tiny pieces. "Wait 'til she hears what happened to me. She'll think she was on vacation."

"Are you going to tell us?" Jen wondered. "Or do we have to guess?"

"What do you want to hear first?" she stopped at the foot of the stairs, hands braced on her hips. "The part where I found out my best friend hooked up with my ex boyfriend over the summer or the part where Cannon is still teaching at West Bev and I'm going to have to see him every single goddamn day?"

Jen's icy calm dissolved and she went pale. Descending a few steps, she clutched the banister for support. "You're not serious."

The sight of her always in control, ice queen sister teetering on the brink of an actual expression tipped the unbalanced scales of Naomi's emotions in the opposite direction. A peal of giggles erupted from her raw throat.

"I hardly think this is funny."

The admonition only made Naomi laugh harder, although the sound was anything but mirthful. Her head swam and her vision blurred as more tears squeezed past her lids. She felt drunk and out of control as her legs gave out on her and she sank to the bottom step. Covering her face with her hands she moaned. "Oh god, Jen. What am I going to do? I had plans. Specific plans to make everything go back to the way it was. I wasn't even at school for half an hour and they're all as useless as last summer's gladiator sandals."

"First," Jen said, pulling a face as she lowered herself somewhat awkwardly to the bottom stair. "You are going to tell me what happened."

Harnessing some modicum of control, Naomi took a deep breath and started from the moment she'd pulled into the parking lot at West Beverly. Jen rushed her impatiently through the more mundane details of her conversation with perky and annoying Stephanie. Naomi wasn't surprised. Liam was as close to taboo as conversation got in the Clark household. In a rush, she relived the events of the earthquake, repeating Cannon's warning word for word. By the time she finished, Jen had risen from the step, her expression livid.

"He touched you," she spat, pacing the width of the staircase. "I can't believe that…that bastard had the audacity to lay a hand on you again. Who does he think he is?"

"He's the one who holds all the cards," Naomi said, wrapping her arms round her shins and laying her head on her knees. Sometime during the retelling, her exhausting hysterics had begun to take their toll. "He's right."

"The hell he is!" Jen argued. "This changes things. We're not letting him get away with this anymore. I'm calling the police and our attorney."

"No! No, no, no! This changes nothing," Naomi insisted, lifting her head, eyes bright with panic. While the phantom memory of Cannon's hands on her just hours earlier made her stomach roll, the idea that she'd have to tell the world about what had happened to her made the brandy threaten an encore appearance. "Jen, you promised me. You swore."

Her sister paused in her agitated wandering and stared. "Naomi, how can you…how can you let him get away with this?"

Jen had asked her that question countless times over the summer. Naomi's answer had always been the same. Without proof, nobody would believe her, so why even try. Today she'd realized something else, however. When Stephanie delivered the news about Annie and Liam, the girl had looked at her with pity. If the truth about the rape came out everybody would look at her that way, every day, for the next nine months, some for her entire life. She'd always be The Girl Who Got Raped. She refused to let that one night define her entire existence.

"It doesn't matter, Jen," Naomi said with a resigned sigh. "But nothing has changed. No one can know, okay? No one."

* * *

In stark contrast to the violent turmoil of the music thundering through the boathouse, inside all was stillness. The floor was littered with broken two-by-fours and tools, all dented or warped in some way that would make use difficult the next time they were needed. Liam was sitting on a metal gas can, head bowed, hands dangling between bent knees. During the rage filled rampage, his suit jacket had ended up in a dusty corner, now buried beneath the remnants of a saw horse. His white dress shirt was untucked and open, the cuffs dangling loosely about his wrists. Somewhere in the melee, he'd dislodged most of the buttons.

For all the damage he'd done, the explosive fit of temper had been short-lived. With the boat gone and most of his time spent with Annie, the shed hadn't seen much use in the past few months. Far too quickly, his destructive instincts burned through what little fuel he had at his disposal, leaving him to stand in the middle of the carnage, dissatisfied and panting for breath while Disturbed wailed from the speakers. Defeated in more ways than one he'd found one of the few options left for seating besides the floor and prayed that the music would drown what was left of his fury and pain.

_How could she do it again? _His mind begged the question, but the pounding bass and guitars were his only answer. When he'd arrived home, he'd initially been relieved to see Colleen's car in the driveway. Cell service was non-existent in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and he hadn't been able to get a call through. Almost immediately, however, he'd spotted the shiny, black BMW squatting with territorial menace beneath the car park. With sickening clarity, he felt the other proverbial shoe drop. There was no need to ask questions. He knew what Jeffery's presence meant. Summoning every ounce of his fragile self-control, he refrained from stomping on the gas and ramming the GTO's grill so far up the BMW's back end they'd need the Jaws of Life to separate them.

For a long while, Liam had simply sat in his car with the engine running, silently seething. The rational part of his mind knew he'd have to get out sometime, reminded him that Annie would be there soon, but even the promise of getting out of his stupid court clothes failed to move him. He couldn't do it. He simply could not set foot in that house of nightmares. Colleen would offer excuses, make promises that everything would be different and if Liam had to hear that line of sad bullshit one more time he just might snap.

Finally, he took a deep breath and killed the engine, seeking refuge in the shed. He was halfway across the meticulously kept lawn when he heard the front door open, then Colleen's voice calling to him and begging him to stop when he ignored it. Despite his intention to keep walking, his feet came to a halt. Clenching his jaw so hard it might shatter, Liam shoved his hands in his pockets and gazed at her. Whatever mutinous instinct demanded he face her, no power on the planet could have moved him to speak.

"Are you alright?" she'd asked after a long moment of silence. "After the earthquake I tried to call you-."

"I'm fine," he replied tersely, offering her nothing more. Bitterness choked off any inquires into her well being. Obviously, she was fine. She had Jeffery to take care of her.

Colleen had nodded and looked toward the black BMW, wrapping her arms around tightly around her torso. Blinking rapidly, she tried again. "Liam, I know what you're thinking, but it's different this time…"

He'd waited a full twenty seconds after she trailed off, some masochistic streak dying to hear how she'd spin this reconciliation as 'different'. Eventually, it had become obvious that even Colleen, a master at excusing Jeffery's dalliances, couldn't muster up a believable lie. Yet here she was, taking him back and having the audacity to try to convince Liam to do the same. That had been the final push and his patience snapped.

"You know what? Do what you want. I'm done," he'd declared, his voice low and tired belying the strength of his anger. Without another word or backwards glance he'd resumed the trek to the shed, his temper mounting with every step until he was nearly blind with fury when he wrenched the door open and stomped inside. What happened next was a violent blur, culminating in the wreckage that now lay scattered at his feet.

With a heavy sigh, Liam closed his eyes and dragged a hand over his face as if to wipe away the memories. Sharp, unexpected pain made him hiss and he was surprised to find the skin ripped to shreds. Nothing serious, but deep enough to be annoying. He was still studying his hands a few moments later when the music abruptly stopped. The resulting silence that rang in his ears was nearly as deafening as the relentless bass and guitars.

Without looking, Liam knew it was Annie. She liked to get his attention by shutting off the music. Most of the time, it didn't bother him, but today the presumption rubbed his already raw nerves. He wasn't sure he was ready to stop being angry and he'd promised himself not to lose control around her. Even though, of all the people in his life, Annie handled it best.

Long moments passed and still she didn't speak, eventually prompting Liam to offer her a sidelong glance. What he saw made his throat go dry and momentarily pushed all thoughts of his mother and Jeffery from his mind.

"Wow," he murmured, barely aware that he was even speaking. She was wearing a light blue dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and a pair of heels so high he couldn't believe she'd actually made it down the small slope and across the lawn. What caught his attention most, however, was the delicious expanse of her tanned legs that the short, tight skirt revealed. And from his vantage point, sitting on the gas can looking up, he could see a lot of leg. "You look amazing."

"Thank you," Annie replied after a moment of surprise. Self consciously, she tugged at her skirt and the familiar blush crept up her cheeks. Holding his gaze, her fidgeting soon stopped and the soft smile faded from her lips. Likewise, the initial shock of seeing her faded and Liam's dark thoughts returned. She bit her lip and said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Logically, he knew she was speaking out of genuine concern but he didn't want her sympathy or pity. Gritting his teeth against the angry retort begging to escape, he pushed to his feet and kicked the gas can across the cement floor. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Liam, your mom-."

"Forget it, Annie," he growled, harsher than he intended, but in no position to call it back. She stiffened and crossed her arms protectively in front of her, continuing to hold his gaze. Swallowing, he reminded himself none of this was her fault and summoned up a few more words in explanation. "She's a lost cause and I'm…I'm just done."

She nodded and moved toward him, expertly maneuvering around the debris in her path in those impossibly high heels. Stopping when only a few inches separated them, she tilted her head and gazed up at him. "I wasn't going to defend her."

Liam had to curl his hands into fists to keep from touching her and ruining her dress with the dust, grime and scant traces of blood covering his skin. "You weren't?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "She asked me to talk to you and I told her I would, but I'm on your side, Liam. I don't get how she can be so upset about hurting you and just keep doing it over and over."

Annie's small hands had found their way to the open flaps of his ruined dress shirt and during her impromptu speech she'd begun playing with the frayed threads from the missing buttons. Now, she used her grip coax him closer until their noses touched and he had to stuff his hands in his pockets to keep from acting on the overwhelming impulse to touch her. Over the course of the summer, Liam had discovered that Annie was the best distraction he'd ever known, able to diffuse his temper better than alcohol or drugs or speed or even the violence of destruction that so often acted as his outlet. She was doing it now and he doubted she even realized it.

"We don't have to go to the party," she promised, delicate fingers dancing over his shoulders and threading through his hair. "We can do something else. Get in your car and drive out to the PCH and see how many cops you can outrun."

Twenty minutes ago, he would have never believed it, but he actually laughed a little. Her touch, the scent of her perfume soothed the raw edge of his anger, but more remained. He could feel it waiting for the right spark to light the fuse. Spending the evening a lone with Annie sounded like heaven, but she was almost too good at letting him be and Liam didn't want a chance to think.

"No, let's…I wanna go," he replied, allowing a small connection and letting his forehead rest against hers. Closing his eyes, he breathed her in and willed the pain and disappointment with his mother to the back of his mind. "We have something to celebrate, right? I think we can do better than just driving around in my car."

"I like driving around in your car," she said. "Especially when I get to do the driving. You should let me drive tonight."

"Why?" he queried warily.

"Because I'm trying to distract you," she teased, pulling back slightly, although her hands still held his face, thumbs brushing absently along his jaw. "And I can only think of two other things that work as well as me behind the wheel of your precious car."

"So why not try those?"

"Oh, I plan to, but they'll have to wait" she smiled innocently while her eyes glinted with mischief. "For one thing, Silver's not here to pick a fight and...well, let's just say the other's more of a finale than an opening act."

At the thinly veiled promise, Liam's gaze dropped longingly to her mouth. "Why don't we get started now and just call it an encore later."

His hands were still in his pockets, but he couldn't resist the urge to claim her mouth. Her lips were soft and yielded easily to him. After holding out so long, the sudden contact was overwhelming in its intensity. Annie didn't seem to mind, briefly matching the insistent stroke of his tongue with her own until she giggled and placed a hand firmly on his chest to push him away.

"No, you don't," she declared as she backed away and put a few feet between them. After spending so long in each other's space, he felt the separation acutely. "You are not going to wear me down. I am sticking to my plan."

"Oh, you have a plan?"

"Mmmhmm," she grinned but gave away nothing else as she made her way back to the table where she'd left her purse. His keys were lying on the same table and after a moment's hesitation she scooped them up and dangled them in the air. "I'll meet you by the car."

Liam pressed his lips together, still tasting her there as he watched her saunter out the door. Once again, he drank in the outline of her body beneath the gauzy fabric of her dress. Every curve taunted him with forbidden promise, but the long expanse of bare leg tantalized him the most. He hadn't the faintest idea how he'd survive the entire party without pulling her into some unused bedroom.

The door shut behind her with a faint click and instantly the room felt different. The wreckage scattered across the floor came into sharp relief and the cuts on his abused hands burned. Through the dusty windows, the sun was setting, framing the house in a warm orange glow. Liam stared at the hulking shape, more shadow than distinct details and struggled to reign in the full strength of his temper. With a sigh, he shrugged out of the ruined white dress shirt and picked his way through the bits of broken tools and splintered wood to the foot locker under the rickety wooden staircase leading to the back entrance.

Five minutes later, now clad in his usual jeans and a plain, white long sleeved shirt, Liam left the shed. A backpack slung over his shoulder contained everything of value he'd kept there. Outside the harsh glare of the setting sun behind his stepfather's house made it easy to avoid looking in the windows and possibly catching a glimpse of Colleen's sad and drawn features – the only thing that could weaken his resolve and make him break the vow he'd just made.

A vow never to set foot in Jeffery Sarkosian's house again.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: My profound apologies for taking extra long with this. I hate being late with my updates. That said, this chapter was challenging. Annie and Liam get a little – or a lot depending on your definition – scandalous and I wanted to get it right. Consider yourself warned. ;p Hopefully, it was worth the wait, but regardless, I intend to do my best to make it up to you by posting more frequently when my muse allows. Enjoy!_

Chapter Five

Hours later, the Earthquake party was in full swing. All around her, Annie's classmates partied like it was still summer and they hadn't a care in the world. Meanwhile, she felt like she was stuck back at Liam's house. Make that Liam's _former _house, she corrected, making a face at the hot pink kool-aid and vodka concoction in her cup. Colleen's completely idiotic decision to take Jeffery back had prompted her boyfriend to do what he'd threatened over the summer and move out. More than a little sick at the thought, she chugged down what remained of her drink and immediately got up for a refill.

The alcohol she'd already consumed had other ideas, however, and Annie nearly fell into the pool as she swayed on her mile-high heels. Sitting down hard on the deck chair, she closed her eyes and waited for the world to stop spinning. If she fell in, at least she'd be prepared, having stashed her purse and dress with Silver's as soon as she arrived and saw most of the party was already taking advantage of the warm night and resort-worthy pool and hot tubs.

"Whoa. You okay?" Silver asked as she reclaimed her seat next to Annie. "Maybe you should slow down."

Annie opened her eyes, relieved when her surroundings stayed put. Her friend was perched on the lounge identical to hers, a cup in each hand and concern blatant on her face. The look irritated Annie for some inexplicable reason and she snatched one of the cups. "I'm fine. I stood up too fast, is all."

"Oookay," Silver replied with a look that clearly stated all was not. Chagrined, Annie sighed and sipped quickly from her glass. The mix was strong, the vodka burning her throat only slightly less now than her first cup, but she relished it anyway as the alcohol slowly but surely numbed all the painful sharp edges.

"I'm sorry," she offered when she'd settled back against the lush cushions.

"Hey, it's…it's fine," Silver assured her, relaxing on her own lounge chair. Letting her head roll to the side she offered a sympathetic smile. "You've kind of had a day. We all have. Court dates and earthquakes are bad enough on their own. Lucky us, we get both on the same day all before lunch."

"Yeah," Annie agreed with a forced laugh. Of course, the earthquake had really been the least of her concerns. If not for school being canceled and the reason for the party, she would have forgotten about it by now. What with Jasper's prediction hovering on the fringes of her conscious and Liam running away from home, even the court appearance seemed inconsequential. Before she had a chance to think it through, she murmured. "It's not even that though."

"What is it?" Silver inquired, her big blue eyes wide. Annie hesitated and stared into the distance at the sliver of shoreline peeking through the man-made rock wall that enclosed the property. The sun had set and the last of its rays streaked the sky. Part of her needed to talk about the confrontation with Jasper and Silver would be the perfect person. Her friend could reassure her that her ex-boyfriend was nothing but a psychotic jerk looking to screw with her one last time. Then maybe she wouldn't feel anxious being away from Liam while at the same time chastising herself for flirting with clingy and annoying and everything that would undoubtedly send him running back to Naomi.

But her lips wouldn't form the words and instead, she led with a secret that wasn't hers to tell. "Liam moved out of his stepdad's house today."

"What? Why?" Silver demanded, her eyes somehow going even wider as she turned on her side and faced Annie fully. Liam's animosity with Jeffery was well known, but immediately she wished she could take it back. Unfortunately, the story was already spilling from her lips, like water from a broken dam and before long she was too deep into the sordid details to undo the damage. By the time she finished with Liam tossing his backpack into the back seat of the Judge, indignant tears burned behind Annie's eyes.

"I just don't get it, Silver," she cried, pounding the cushion with her fist in a fit of impotent rage as she reached the heart of the matter. "Colleen _begged_ me to make Liam forgive her. Every time she promises things will be different, but they never are. She _knows _how much she's hurting him, so why does she keep doing it?"

"I-I don't know," her friend answered quietly. Now it was her turn to pause and look away. Too late, Annie remembered that of all people, Silver understood. "I used to ask Kelly the same thing about my mom and her drinking. I always thought if she loved me as much as she said she did she'd stay sober. It's never that simple, though."

"Yeah, but…your mom had an addiction. Liam's mom is just…weak," Annie argued stubbornly. Voicing her frustrations aloud had done little to dampen them. Her heart broke every time she recalled those first few moments in the shed, before she'd shut off the music and Liam realized she was there. Sitting on that gas can, every line of his body spoke of a bone deep despair that, while she knew the cause, had no way to fix.

"What's Liam going to do?"

Annie laughed without mirth and shrugged. "I don't know. I told him he could stay with us, but he won't."

"Why not?"

"The only way he's going back to that house is if Jeffery isn't in it," she explained and on this point she couldn't argue with him. "If my mom gets involved, he'll be back in no time."

"Wow," Silver murmured after a moment, sinking back into the cushions. "This sucks."

"Exponentially," Annie agreed with a sharp nod. She started to take a small sip of her drink, but changed her mind and gulped down half the glass. As much as she understood Liam's logic, it still irked her that he'd refused her offer so quickly. She shook her head in irritation. Last night she'd promised herself that in twenty four hours, she'd be home free without a care in the world. Testifying against Jasper would be the last hurdle to jump before pounding the final nail in the past year's proverbial coffin. Of course Fate had other ideas and threw a whole volley of curveballs at her and she was almost worse off than before. "God, I feel like a four-year-old on the verge of a temper tantrum."

Silver said nothing for a moment, then grinned. "You could push someone in the pool. I know the perfect candidate."

Despite her sour mood, Annie managed a laugh at the other girl's suggestive wink. "I'm not pushing Liam in the pool. He'd just pull me in with him."

"At least your dressed for it," she indicated the tiny, white bikini. "Mr. Jeans-and-Tshirt would be S.O.L."

"This is true," she conceded. Her mind wandered a bit, to last spring when she'd seized on an insane spontaneity and pulled Liam into the fountain. All things considered, that moment had been the start of something amazing that she'd never expected. If she hadn't already had a plan, Silver's would have been a great alternative.

The light from the sun had vanished completely now, and with no moon the private beach was instantly dark. All the water enthusiasts were dragging their toys out of the surf and joining the rest of the party. The sudden need to be with Liam was acute.

Gulping the rest of her drink, she rose slowly to her feet and managed to do it with some grace and dignity. Offering Silver a genuine smile, she said. "Thank you for letting me rant."

"Anytime, my friend," she replied, raising her glass in a toast.

"I'm gonna-."

"Go find Liam," she finished with a wry smile. "Yes, I know. He's been left to his own devices far too long. Who knows what kind of shenanigans he's gotten himself into."

Annie groaned and rolled her eyes, the grin on her face irrepressible. Setting off for the bar with a much lighter heart she thanked the circumstances that had allowed her and Silver to become best friends again.

* * *

While the rest of the students at West Beverly Hills High School descended in droves upon Malibu mansion for the Earthquake party, Naomi sought refuge in her bedroom. Curled into a tight ball on her bed, her face hidden behind the worn and tattered body of a stuffed bear Ethan had given her ages ago, she tried to sleep. The hour she'd spent at school that day, coupled with her hysterical outburst had left her drained of both energy and desire to do anything but escape into a dreamless, Ambien induced coma. Until Jen returned with the promised pharmaceuticals, however, Naomi could only squeeze her eyes shut and will sleep to find her.

Sleep, of course, remained elusive. Every time she closed her eyes, she recoiled at the sight of Cannon's eyes burning into her. The image so filled her vision, she couldn't tell if she was remembering the night in his office three months ago or that morning in the school hallway. For the hundredth time, Naomi cursed whatever god or fate had kept Cannon at her school when he was supposed to be gone. How as she supposed to get through her senior year? Would she have to take Jen's advice and return to Europe? Get private tutors? The thought of admitting defeat upset her as much as the idea of going back to school the next day.

With every ounce of strength she possessed, Naomi shoved thoughts of Cannon out of her brain. Inhaling deeply, she tried to focus on her breathing. That was the trick, right? Somewhere some new age hippie yoga instructor at a spa had told her that. Deep breathing was the key to clearing the mind and bringing inner tranquility. Naomi attempted the trick for a solid minute, but the only thing she got out of it was a nose full of fuzz from the bear. With a despairing moan, she rolled onto her back and stretched out on the satin duvet. Propping the stuffed animal on her stomach she stared at it accusingly. She couldn't even remember when Ethan had given it to her and she'd all but forgotten it existed until she stumbled into her room a couple hours ago seeking comfort from anything she could find. The bear had been sitting on a shelf by her bed, gathering dust.

At first, Cannon had preoccupied her mind to the point where the stuffed toy actually worked, providing Naomi with something to ground her to reality and not get lost amongst the nightmares. Now, however, as she glared at the nondescript, typical teddy bear features, other thoughts surfaced. Ethan taking her to junior high dances, glued to her side at beach parties at a time when drinking stolen wine coolers was the height of deviant behavior. They'd been inseparable, together from the time boys had stopped seeming like gross mutants and something with perhaps a modicum of potential to be interesting. He'd been her first love and most of the time, despite their messy end, she looked back on their relationship with a kind of bemused fondness.

In light of what she'd learned from Stephanie that morning, thoughts of Ethan inevitably turned to Annie and the way she'd swooped in from middle-of-nowhere Kansas and began stealing her boyfriends. Betrayal and disappointment flooded her senses so quickly, Naomi's eyes widened in surprise as she traced a finger over the bear's scratched unseeing eyes. The Ethan debacle was supposed to be behind them. She'd believed it to be true, convinced herself that it wasn't personal. Ethan and Annie had history and whether she'd been dating him or not, that history would have overshadowed everything else eventually.

"Such a pretty lie," she murmured aloud to the stoic, silent bear. The history excuse was just that. A nice bit of psychobabble that took Annie off the hook for her crimes against the Girl Code, but it rang false now. Hooking up with your supposed best friend's boyfriend once could be considered a heinous mistake. But apparently, once wasn't enough for Annie Wilson.

A morbid curiosity propelled her thoughts down a new avenue, Cannon as close to forgotten as he ever could be. What exactly did 'really together' mean, anyway? Naomi absently twirled the bear in somersaults by the arms. Really together. Annie and Liam were _really _together. Dwelling on the phrase, her stomach turned with nausea as different images filled her mind. Liam lounging against the lockers by Annie's between classes. Annie fawning all over him before school in the parking lot. The two of them walking hand in hand down the hallways at West Bev. Kissing. Having sex.

"Ugh, God. Gross," Naomi gagged, her grip tightening around the bear, practically strangling it. The nausea was more acute, but less painful than the violation and fear that had gripped her earlier, so she welcomed it and stayed on that train of thought.

Without a doubt, her heart had broken a little to hear that Liam had moved on, but that sorrow was secondary to a far baser emotion. When Liam had unceremoniously dumped her last spring, Naomi had been hurt, but far from devastated. In fact, that lack of real reaction had bothered her more than breaking up with the guy she had spent so much time obsessing over. If anything, she was irritated that Liam had ended things first. She was Naomi Clark, for Christ's sake. She was the _dumper_, not the dumpee. During the Pass the Torch party, she'd fumed and moped, but the rape had pushed Liam so far from her mind she'd barely thought of him the entire summer. Obviously, from the speed with which Liam and Annie shacked up, he hadn't spent any time mooning over her, either. The smart move was to simply swallow the small spark of pride that left her indignant over the whole affair and let the past stay in the past. She'd spent the summer ignoring anything and everything that had to do with Beverly Hills, it was stupid to think that Liam would have been pining for her in her absence.

Tucking the bear under her arm, she rolled onto her side again, pulling her knees up to her chest. Her eyes were dry and scratchy, begging for sleep, but her brain still had other ideas. All the sound advice in the world failed to put a dent in the building sense of indignation over Annie and Liam's sins against the bonds of friendship. They _should_ have waited for her blessing or at the very least had the decency to hide the relationship in the shameful shadows where it belonged. Naomi covered her face with her hands, pressing two fingers against each temple in the hopes of massaging away the building headache.

"Where the hell are you, Jen?" she groaned after a few futile moments. Casting the bear aside, she pushed herself to a seated position and ran a hand through matted blond hair. As much as she wanted to literally dig the mental images of Liam and Annie together out of her head, she much preferred the rising righteous anger regarding their blossoming coupledom to the fear and misery thoughts of Cannon and the rape encouraged. Suddenly, her headache vanished. "Wait, that's it."

"What's it?" Jen demanded, entering the room in predictably dramatic fashion, one hand pressed low against her back, the other holding a white paper bag.

"Oh, nothing," Naomi smiled, shaking out her hair as she leaned back against the pillows like a queen. "Just the perfect way to keep my mind off Mr. Cannon."

"Does that mean you're finally going to let me have him castrated?"

"Jen."

"What?" her sister asked with wide eyed innocence as she eased herself onto the bed. "You cannot tell me that it's not a decent plan."

"It's a ridiculous plan," Naomi insisted. "Mine is better. I don't even have to think about him. In fact, that's the whole point."

"Because it's been working so well for you thus far," Jen rolled her eyes, not even attempting to hide her disapproval.

"_Jen!" _Naomi cried, the constant needling wearing at the fragile strands of her self control. Her sister raised her hands in surrender and donned a contrite mask that was a complete lie, but Naomi pretended the gesture was real. "For the last time, I can't tell anyone about the rape."

"You keep saying that, but I just don't understand why-."

"Yes, you do," Naomi insisted. They'd been over her reasoning countless times since the night she'd shown up a broken mess on Jen's doorstep. "Please, don't make me explain them again."

Jen regarded her silently for a long time, clearly at war with her instincts. Naomi supposed she understood. Her older sister created the world she lived in, sculpting it with a careful hand. Every decision was weighed against her desires and best interests and anything that threatened the perfection she was striving for was quickly obliterated. A reunion with Naomi had never been part of the plan, especially not the emotionally wrecked shadow she'd become in the past few months.

"Alright," Jen said with a controlled sigh. "I'll make you a deal. If this _idea _you have pulls you off the emotional rollercoaster you appear to be stuck on and you return to the vindictive, scheming brat of a sister I know and love, this will be the last time we discuss what happened."

Years of similar abuse made Naomi immune to the unveiled barbs. Raising a brow, she countered. "And if it doesn't?"

"Then I will take it upon myself to expose Cannon as the pedophilic rapist he is," Jen vowed, not missing a beat. "And I won't stop until he has adequately paid for what he did to you."

* * *

With Annie gone to track down Liam, Silver toyed with the idea of looking for her own boyfriend. He'd bee-lined for the surf almost immediately upon arriving at the party and she hadn't seen him since. The lounge chair proved far too comfortable, however, and rather than risk walking off the pleasant buzz she'd carefully cultivated all evening, she settled for scanning the crowd. She was on her second pass before she realized she'd been looking for Naomi, too. With a frown, she shook her head and focused on searching for Teddy's tall frame. Aside from the text a few days ago, she hadn't heard a single word from her former best friend. Every day that passed in radio silence only served to fuel her sense of betrayal.

After a third pass the search proved futile. Silver closed her eyes and guided her thoughts toward a solution for Liam's sudden case of homelessness, but it was hard to focus on anything but the mystifying sense of rejection left behind in the space that Naomi used to occupy. Just when all her will power seemed to be caving to the undeniable pull of self pity and bitterness, she felt the cushion shift by her hip and caught a hint of familiar cologne mixed with the salty tang of the ocean. A second later, soft lips brushed her own.

"Mmm, hello," she sighed happily, opening her eyes to find Teddy hovering over her, his blond hair wet from the surf. He'd stripped to the waist, the top half of his wet suit hanging casually at his sides and she more than appreciated the view.

"Hi," he replied with a grin, invading every inch of her personal space. Not that she cared in the slightest. "Why are you here all by yourself?"

"Annie just left. She went to find Liam," Silver explained, sitting up a little taller and making more room for Teddy on the lounge chair. Rolling her eyes, she added. "Surprise, surprise, right? Have you talked to him tonight?"

"A little," he nodded. "I found him by the bar. He was raiding the liquor cabinet for something to drink that, as he put it, didn't taste like skittles."

"Ooo, he's such a badass," Silver teased, despite her concern for her friends. "Did he tell you-."

"That he moved out? Yeah, he mentioned it," Teddy said, then shrugged. "Well, mentioned isn't really the word. He was pissed and just kinda ranted in my general direction."

"Does he have a clue where he's going to live?" she pressed.

"He didn't say, but I got the impression he was just gonna crash in his car until he figured something out."

Despite the animosity she actively nurtured between her and Liam, she felt a pang of sympathy at that revelation. She knew what it was like to think the backseat of a car parked to blend in a residential neighborhood was a better option than home. That said, having been in his shoes before, she knew all the flaws of that scenario. "That's the dumbest thing ever."

"Really?" Teddy raised a brow and smirked. "The dumbest thing ever?"

"Shut up," she countered and punched lightly on the arm. "Leave it to Liam to run away from home and have no plan whatsoever."

"What do you want him to do?" he laughed. "You got a spare room he can use?"

"There's not enough alcohol on the planet to make that funny," she warned. "But there's got to be somewhere he can stay that doesn't have four wheels and a manual transmission."

"Wait a minute, maybe…" Teddy stared past her shoulder, working out details Silver could only guess at. Just as he'd nearly worn her patience to the last frayed cord, he nodded. "Yeah, there is."

* * *

The sun had set, the party in fully swing, when Liam happened upon the empty cabana on the edge of the property where the carefully manicured landscape met the unforgiving sand. With no moon to light the way, the revelers had gravitated back to the house leaving the beach quiet and still. Taking a shot from the bottle of Jameson he'd commandeered from the unlocked liquor cabinet, he leaned against the polished wooden corner post closest to him and watched the distant waves crash over each other as they rushed toward the shore. The noise from the party overpowered the sound, but he knew it by heart.

Annie was somewhere in that din and part of him knew he should go find her and apologize. They hadn't exactly had a fight over him moving out, but because he could be such a first class dick sometimes it had come close. Nothing she could say would make him change his mind. There was only one way he'd return to that house and while he'd witnessed his girlfriend do some amazing things when she put her mind to it, the situation with Jeffery was out of her league. With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes. The whole mess was exhausting and he was tired of it. Despite the dire details of being homeless at seventeen, it came with a strange and euphoric sense of freedom. \

Of course, that could also have just been the Jameson talking.

"Hey," a familiar voice wrapped around him and helped the whiskey further soothe the rough edges of disappointment he'd yet to fully shake. Surprised, he tried to turn, but Annie wrapped her arms around his waist and peered around his shoulder. "Found you."

"You sure you want me?" he raised a brow, only half joking. The smile she gave in return left him wrecked.

"Always," she replied sweetly and he knew she understood. Gazing into her deep brown eyes he wondered if she had any idea how easily she snuck under his defenses. Even though she'd been doing it for months it still caught him off guard.

Of course, Annie had turned surprising him into an art form and when she slinked around to face him, he realized she'd just perfected her masterpiece. The barely-there white bikini practically glowed in the dark against her skin. Like any West Bev function, the party had its fair share of exposed flesh, but with her hair down and those ridiculous heels that screamed 'fuck me now', his girlfriend blew them all away. Possessive on a good day, just knowing that every other guy at the party had probably been staring at her all night made him want to start throwing punches.

"What are you wearing?" he demanded when he was finally able to form a full sentence, the question much harsher than he intended as he struggled with suddenly fragile self-control.

Annie smiled, slow and satisfied. Backing up, she held out her arms and spun around, amazingly steady. "It's part of my plan. You like?"

Oh, hell _yes, _he thought, holding back a groan, his brain slowly but surely catching up with the instant reaction of his body. What he'd _like _was to drag her down to the sand and do away with everything save the heels, but he settled for roughly pulling her back to him. Annie giggled and crashed into his chest. "I like."

"I can tell," she said, the satisfied grin never leaving her face as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lithe body flush against his. His growing arousal was impossible to hide. Not that he wanted to. He'd been drinking whiskey straight out of the bottle in the hopes that he'd be able to forget everything that had happened that day, but to no avail. Barely three minutes with Annie and he'd practically forgotten his own name.

Wanting to hang on to that feeling of blissful ignorance, Liam kissed her. Annie responded with an intensity that had him moaning into her mouth. Small hands crept beneath his shirt and clutched tightly at his sides. Her nails dug into his skin, prompting him to deepen the kiss. If they didn't find somewhere private where he could have her naked and pliant beneath him in the next five minutes, he might explode.

"Let's go inside," he murmured, his lips brushing hers. Annie shook her head, the sound of her ragged breathing somehow louder and sharper than the din of the party raging only a few feet away. Those devilish fingers tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"You're overdressed," she stated with a determined gleam in her eye and stripped the white henley up and over his head before he could form a response. Her lips were warm where they pressed against his now bare chest and her fingers trailed liquid fire as they drew lazy circles down his spine.

"Annie, this…this is…," he caught his breath in a sharp hiss as she dragged her nails back up his back and pulled him into another scorching kiss. Without time to catch a breath he was dizzy by the time she released him.

Batting her eyes innocently, she asked. "This is what?"

Finally, he realized she was playing with him, teasing him the way he liked to tease her. Clearly he was more wasted than he thought if it took him this long to figure out. Determined to get the upper hand, he backed her up a few steps so she was trapped between him and the sturdy wooden post holding up the corner of the cabana. Dropping his gaze to her lips he traced the line of her mouth with a finger. "This is dangerous."

Annie grinned and nipped at his finger. "I know."

"Annie-."

"Shhhh," she insisted, pressing a finger to his lips for emphasis. What scant light from the main house made it to the cabana bathed her face, illuminating a mischievous grin juxtaposed with fiery passion in burning in her eyes. Liam was mesmerized. "This is all part of the plan."

"Tell me the rest," he demanded impatiently as lust and alcohol combined to make it exceedingly difficult to form coherent thoughts. Bracing his forearm above her head, he boldly cupped her breast, dragging his thumb over the fabric across the tight nipple. Her startled gasp made him grin in triumph. Two could play this game of sexual torture.

"It'd be more fun if I just showed you," Annie retorted, her eyes flashing fire as she deftly slipped her small hand between them and slid it down the front of his jeans. Cupping him with a possessiveness that nearly pushed him over the edge right there, she giggled at his curse and kissed the base of his throat.

"Jesus, Annie," Liam panted and leaned more heavily into her as his legs threatened to turn to jello. Beneath his hand on her chest, her heart raced, belying some of her bravado. He knew she was drunk, he could taste that stupid vodka and kool-aid concoction when he kissed her, but so was he and while part of him felt like he should put a stop to the game before it passed the point of no return, the rest of him was so turned on he could barely think.

A piercing shriek followed by a loud splash carried from the party, as Liam stood there panting for breath while Annie continued to tease his growing erection. The proximity of their classmates and the potential of getting caught helped him snag the last threads of his nobility and he tried one final plea. "Seriously, if we don't…get inside somewhere private, I'm going to…"

"You're going to what?" she whispered directly into his ear, her breath hot and insistent against his skin. Every word dripped with unmistakable challenge. In one fluid motion, Liam picked her up and spun them both toward the lounge chair tucked into the corner of the cabana. The surprised squeal the move elicited blended right into the rest of the noise from the party.

Capturing both her wrists, Liam pinned them above Annie's head and used his body to hold her still. With her legs parted to cradle him intimately, nothing but a few scant layers of clothing separated them. There was enough light to make out her features and he couldn't resist dragging another kiss from those perfect lips. "I'm going to lose control."

"_That's_ the plan," she murmured, glancing down at his lips almost demurely. In that moment he thought he caught a glimpse of the Annie he knew, the one who always seemed surprised at how utterly she wrecked him, but the moment passed. The second she lifted those deep brown eyes to meet his, the only thing he questioned was whether or not she was wasted or stone cold sober. "You don't have to be careful with me. Not tonight."

Here she paused and licked her swollen lips. Liam swore in that surreal moment he could hear the rasp of her pink tongue over the abused flesh. A Cheshire smile curved her lips, like they'd arrived at the final play and the ball was completely in her court. "Stop protecting me from your big, bad self. I'm not a doll. You're not gonna break me. Come on, Liam. Corrupt me."

At that dangerously simple request, Liam's tenuous grasp on self-control shattered. Had he been sober maybe, _maybe, _he could have played the chivalrous white knight and saved the maiden's at least public virtue, but with the alcohol and the avalanche of crushing stress the invitation was too seductive to refuse.

Still pinning her hands to the lux white cushions, Liam's mouth crashed down on Annie's hard enough to bruise. Later they could argue over who won or lost. At that moment he couldn't think beyond the euphoria of abandoning all pretense of control. Instinct took over and while he devoured her, he wasted no time in pushing the bikini top out of the way to expose her breasts to the cooling night air. He swallowed her strangled cry of pleasure as she broke out in goosebumps and she arched sharply into him. He continued to tease the sensitive flesh until she was writhing beneath him, tugging on her trapped hands so hard he almost lost his grip.

"Let me go," she demanded in a broken whisper.

"Why?" he growled, the single word all he could manage. Once again, she'd hooked her leg around his, deliberately grinding her heated core against his raging hard-on and dragging her stiletto heel up the back of his leg.

"I want to touch you," Annie's answer was a broken gasp as Liam slipped his hand between her thighs, cupping her boldy. Each word was a hard fought battle as he pushed aside the miniscule slip of white fabric and easily slid one finger, than another into her welcoming, wet center. "Please, Liam. No more games. I just…I want…you."

Apparently, there was no end to the ways she could undo him. Releasing her wrists with a groan of surrender, he braced his forearm against the cushions to hold himself steady while Annie immediately speared her fingers through his hair and pulled him into another kiss. Lost in the tantalizing depths of her mouth, he didn't notice her hands as they worked down his body until she reached the button fly of his jeans. Without hesitation, she made quick work of his zipper and boxers, pushing down only as far as she needed to wrap her hand around the bare, rigid length of him. The sensation was such exquisite torture he almost came on the spot.

What happened next was a fevered blur, a scramble of hands, and then finally he was inside her. At first the relief of the moment was more than either could stand and they froze, foreheads touching, mouths so close they breathed the same air. Then the heady combination of lust and alcohol slammed against their bruised and battered psyches. The rumble of the party, scant feet away on the other side of the cabana wall, broke through. Liam gripped her upper thigh, pulling Annie closer and muffled her cry of passion with his mouth. Her nails dug into his muscled shoulders as they quickly found a familiar rhythm. Neither one lasted long, their senses heightened by the knowledge that any second they could get caught, but Liam didn't care. Because in that moment he believed definitively that whatever else got shot to hell, Annie would be there. Nothing could tear them apart.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A long time ago, Annie had both realized and accepted her extreme tendency to worry and overanalyze. Despite almost constantly stressing over something, she rationalized that at least she was always prepared for every contingency. Nothing could ever catch her off guard if she planned for everything. That was the theory anyway. Somehow in all her extensive contemplation of the first day of her senior year, she'd never figured on having the worst hangover of her life.

As she walked carefully down the halls of West Beverly, Annie tried not to hear the rambunctious antics of her classmates, did her best to avoid being jostled as they swarmed around her and cursed every one of them for not feeling like death warmed over. Although the nausea that had gripped her that morning when she woke had dissipated, it left a mind numbing headache in its wake. Skirting a cluster of soccer players bouncing a dangerous looking ball between them, Annie made her way to her locker. The small cubby beckoned, a haven from chaos, and she leaned her forehead against the cool industrial blue metal door. Her pulse pounded in her ears, so loud it nearly blocked out the cacophony around her.

After a few fleeting seconds, however, even that respite wore off and she knew she had to face the day. Drawing a deep breath, she twisted the lock, easily recalling the combination she'd barely thought of for the past three months. She stuffed her bag inside and, after a moment's hesitation, slowly pulled off her dark sunglasses, trying to let her over sensitive eyes get used to the sudden brightness in small increments.

"Hey, Rockstar. How's it going?" Liam appeared suddenly, leaning against the locker next to hers with his hands stuffed casually in his pockets. Even though she'd apparently consumed her weight in alcohol the previous night, Annie vividly remembered every second that she'd spent with her boyfriend. That morning, between bouts of nausea, she'd wondered how she'd feel upon seeing him today. Mildly embarrassed? Humiliated beyond all hope? Indifferent? Ha! As if she could be so lucky. The brazen girl who had so easily seduced Liam Court the night before vanished and left her with nothing but a headache.

Hearing his voice, though, her body responded before her sluggish brain could catch up. Sunglasses still in hand, she clutched his shirt and pulled him closer. Pressing her face against his chest, she mumbled something unintelligible as his arms automatically enveloped her. She felt, rather than heard, the low chuckle in response. "That good, huh?"

"I'm never drinking again," she swore, lifting her head just enough for the words to come out clearly. Being held by Liam felt so good, Annie shelved the previous night's seduction. She'd have plenty of time to obsess about it later when the heat from his body wasn't quite so soothing and his gentle fingers massaging the base of her neck wasn't so blissful. "You're not hungover at all, are you?"

"Not even a little," he admitted.

"I hate you," she pouted. "Why not?"

"Uh, because I didn't drink that kool-aid crap?" he pointed out with another laugh that he had the decency to try to hide. "That stuff will kill you."

"Ugh, don't talk about it," she groaned, imagining she could still taste the sickly sweet concoction. Propping her chin in his chest, she looked up at him for the first time. "I feel like roadkill."

"Well, you look beautiful," he said so easily that she almost believed him. Tucking her hair behind her ear, he wrapped a strand around his finger and dropped his gaze to her mouth. Anticipation pushed the hangover aside as he took her jaw between his thumb and forefinger, guiding her lips to his. The kiss was slow with Liam dragging it out of her until she could feel it in her toes. Even though the hallway was crowded with their classmates, as far as Annie was concerned, no one existed but the two of them. When he pulled away, she lingered with her eyes closed, savoring the moment.

When her lashes finally fluttered open, she found Liam smiling at her, apparently very satisfied with what he saw. Tracing her lips with his thumb, he lifted a brow. "Let's get outta here. Go to the beach or something and I'll keep you company while you sleep it off."

"Mmm, that is so tempting," Annie admitted, but after allowing herself a few more seconds in his arms, she pulled away and returned to her locker. "But we can't. Debbie would find out and I've managed so far to keep her in the dark about last night."

Liam sighed and leaned with his back against the lockers. "You're such a good girl."

"What?" Annie froze, the phrase hitting a nerve and bringing back the full force of her headache. After everything that had happened last night and the skull crushing hangover she was currently dealing with, she was still labeled the 'good girl'. Before she could stop to think, she demanded. "What did you call me?"

"What, I-," Liam's head shot up from his contemplation of the floor tiles and he eyed her in surprise. A frown appeared between his brows and those piercing blues eyes narrowed at the apparently hostile expression on her face. "Annie, I was just kidding."

Instantly chagrined, she closed her eyes. Of course he was kidding. Stupid hangover was making her short tempered. "Liam, I'm-."

"Oh good, you're both here."

Instantly, she recognized that voice. The apology died on her lips and a shiver raced down her spine. Barely turning her head, she cast a quick glance at Liam, but he'd straightened and shoved his hands in his pockets, intent on the person standing behind her. This was it. The moment she'd been dreading since she'd first realized that she had feelings for Liam she didn't want to ignore. Drawing a deep breath, Annie plastered a smile on her face that she hoped masked her nerves and turned. "Naomi. Hi."

For a second that felt like an eternity, the statuesque blond met her gaze with an utterly neutral expression. While she waited for whatever wrath awaited them, Annie sent a silent thank you to the universe that at least Naomi hadn't shown up a few seconds earlier and caught them making out.

With amazing speed, however, Naomi's face broke into a smile and she enveloped Annie in a hug that left her mind reeling. The other girl's excited squeal would have shattered sound barriers. "I can't believe I haven't seen you all summer! How are you?"

"Uh, I'm...g-great," Annie replied, looking over Naomi's shoulder at Liam in total bewilderment. For his part, he simply shrugged, watching the scene unfold with something akin to wary amazement. "H-how are you? How was Europe?"

"Fabulous, of course," Naomi gushed, finally releasing her and immediately diving into her oversized shoulder bag. "And I will tell you all about it later, but I'm _so _late for a meeting with admissions. Someone thought it would be hilarious to put me in shop during 4th period. I may be blond, but even I know that has nothing to do with Chanel or Gucci. I just wanted to give you these."

Naomi thrust a card plastered with her face at each of them. "Invitations to my birthday celebration," she explained needlessly, without missing a beat. "Believe me, you won't want to miss it. It's going to be _the _party of the year. A girl only turn eighteen once, right?"

"Right," Annie replied, hesitantly reaching for the professionally made card. Just as she was about to take it, Naomi snatched it back.

"Wait, you guys will probably come together, though, right?" she mused. Annie's heart dropped to her shoes and the nausea from the morning returned with a vengeance. Naomi knew. She'd known it was possible, but with the previous school day being so short, Annie had fantasized that maybe she'd be able to break the news to her best friend first. But the blond continued on as if nothing had happened. "Why don't you share? Nobody gets in without an invitation and I can't wait to see people try to kill each other to get their hands on one."

She glanced at Liam, who managed another shrug, so she accepted the shiny card. "Okay. We can…do that."

"Awesome!" she gushed with characteristically over-the-top enthusiasm. "I'll talk to you guys later. Bye!"

Without waiting for a similar response from either Annie or Liam, Naomi hurried off in the direction of the administration offices. Annie stared blankly at the invitation without really seeing it. Her mind was too busy trying to catch up with the rest of the planet. "What-what was that?"

"I don't know," Liam replied, still looking down the hallway after his ex-girlfriend.

"I've imagined that conversation with Naomi a thousand different ways, but I never thought she'd just…"

"Accept it?" Liam finished, turning to her with skeptically raised brow.

"Yeah," Annie nodded, growing more perplexed by the second. The girl who'd just breathlessly handed her an invitation to her birthday party looked and sounded like the same girl who just a year ago had made her life a living hell for thinking she slept with Liam. "I don't know if I should be relieved or…terrified."

Liam looked at her quizzically, but the first bell rang before he could say what was on his mind and he pushed off the lockers. "I'll talk to you after class."

"Okay," she nodded, returning to her locker for a notebook and pen. Suddenly, she remembered the way she'd snapped at him about the good girl comment. "Liam, I'm…" but he'd already disappeared into the throng of people rushing to their first official class of the school year. Annie's shoulders sagged and she slammed her locker shut, wincing as her headache cruelly returned. Sighing, she joined the crowd and muttered a useless. "Sorry."

* * *

When the bell rang signaling the end of forth period, Navid was still dictating orders to The Blaze staff, willfully ignoring the time. Years of practice had Silver gathering her belongings and making her way to the door while at the same time jotting down his words in shorthand.

"Okay, Navid. I promise I'll have those outlines to you asap," Silver called over her shoulder, clutching her pen and notebook tightly in one hand while using the other to push open the door. Navid continued talking and most likely wouldn't realize his staff had left until he asked a question that no one answered.

Reviewing her notes, Silver scurried down the hallway and around the corner. Her next class was on the other side of campus. Of course. Given that she'd be coming from staff meetings, she'd probably be late countless times, but she didn't want to set the precedent on the first day. In her haste, she nearly mowed a fellow student over. Immediately, she began to apologize. "Oh my gosh, I'm sor-ry."

The gesture died quickly and Silver swallowed as she realized who she'd literally run into, her stomach sinking with dread. She'd made it through half the school day without having this confrontation. Every time the thought of it invaded her brain, she'd pushed it aside so that now she was completely unprepared. The dull pain from a summer of being ignored spiked sharply and despite wanting to be anywhere else in the world, she was rooted to the spot.

At first, Naomi only blinked at her in surprise, but as the seconds stretched her expression changed to resemble something that on anybody else would have been remorse. "Silver, hi. I, um, I've been looking for you all day."

"Did you try the locker I've had for the past three years?" she said in retort, the harsh words surprising her as well as Naomi. Her mouth continued to speak with a mind of its own. "Then again, since you apparently forgot my number this summer, I shouldn't be surprised you couldn't find it."

"Silver-," Naomi began, a note of pleading in her voice.

"I'm late for class," she replied brusquely and found the will to make her feet move.

"Wait, Silver!" Naomi expertly chased after her despite her typical mile high heels. Silver stopped short when the other girl's hand clamped down on her arm.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"Here," Naomi held out a shiny looking card with her face plastered all over it. "It's for my birthday. The party's on Friday."

Silver eyed the invitation, but didn't touch it as relief warred with stubborn pride. As much as she wanted to accept what she knew to be Naomi's way of apologizing for the summer, she couldn't. "You think that you can just shove an invitation to your latest amazing party in my face and I'll magically forget you haven't spoken to me in three months? Come on, Naomi. Even you aren't that delusional."

The tall blond pursed her lips and stared at the ceiling, blinking furiously at what Silver refused to believe were actual tears. Finally, she swallowed and gave the card a shake. "No. I don't think that. I know you're mad at me and you have every reason to be. But I still want you there. I want this birthday to be perfect and it won't be without you."

Silver's resolve weakened slightly and after holding out another long moment, she snatched the shiny card from the other girl's hand. "I make no promises. And if you don't invite Annie I won't go."

"Awesome!" Naomi's face lit up in a brilliant smile and she clapped her hands together as if Silver hadn't just issued her a tentative no and an ultimatum all in one breath. "And of course I invited Annie. Why wouldn't I?"

Silver's eyes went wide. By now, Naomi should have heard about Annie and Liam. Maybe not from the couple themselves, but despite having been together, in public, for half the summer they were still the talk of West Bev. Her mouth worked, but only the most basic of syllables came out. "I, um…I –."

"Oh, you mean because of her and Liam?" Naomi raised a brow as if the very idea she would care was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Please. I already gave them their invitation this morning."

"O-okay, then. That's…good," Silver stammered, trying to remember through her confusion that she'd been borderline furious with Naomi only seconds ago. The halls had all but cleared out around them as students made their way to their next classes. Suddenly, Naomi seemed to notice, too.

"Gotta go! Late for class," she said in her usual airy way. "I'll see you later, okay? Call me!"

Despite being late herself, Silver could only stare, dumbfounded, as Naomi made her way down the hallway. Call her? Turning slowly, she continued on her former path to biology. She was supposed to _call _Naomi and go to her birthday party. And the self-proclaimed Queen of the Girl Code was okay with Annie dating her ex-boyfriend. Had there been another earthquake? An aftershock maybe and she'd hit her head? That must be it. She'd hit her head and was dreaming – having a total Dorothy in Oz moment. How else could she explain Naomi's personality transplant?

Something was definitely up. Either the girl was planning something or…well, that was really the only explanation. Naomi must have a plan. Crumpling the thick card in her fist, Silver vowed not to rest until she discovered it.

* * *

When the final bell rang signaling the end of the unofficial first day of his senior year, Liam was already roaming the halls. He'd ducked out of his Lit class early, figuring there was no point in getting the assignment since he'd already read _Fahrenheit 451_.If he'd been the type to embrace scholarly pursuits he could have started on _1984_, but the last thing he wanted to do was give any teacher the idea that he actually liked to read when he was the one picking the books. At the moment, however, he had something more important to deal with than the implications of book burning. All day he'd been trying to track down Naomi, but somehow the girl who went out of her way to draw attention to herself had stayed under everyone's radar.

Considering he'd either been dating Naomi or trying to date her for the better part of a year, Liam had spent very little time thinking about her after their break up last spring. Summer had existed in a vacuum where only the present had mattered. The concerns Annie had had about her reaction to them being together had been real enough, but always part of the future, something to worry about tomorrow. That morning by Annie's locker, _tomorrow _had finally arrived. Liam had witnessed her reaction to Naomi – the way she put up shields to protect herself until palpable tension rolled off her in waves. He hadn't forgotten his promise not let her suffer the same alienation she'd dealt with a year ago and he damn well planned on keeping it.

The crush of departing students was at its thickest when finally he caught a glimpse of Naomi talking animatedly with a brunette he barely recognized. The sea of people seemed to part for her effortlessly as she strolled along, completely oblivious. Liam pushed through the crowd, determined not to let the day end without confronting her.

"Naomi, we need to talk," he announced without preamble when he arrived at her locker. She froze at the sound of his voice, her face half-hidden by the metal door. The mystery brunette flanking her side was staring at him with wide eyes, her lips clamped shut as she drank in every single detail of the scene.

When Naomi turned her full attention to him, her features were serene. Whatever surprise she'd felt at his sudden arrival masked by an inviting smile and an artfully raised brow. "So talk."

Liam looked pointedly at her shadow, waiting for the other girl to get the hint. After several seconds he rolled his eyes. "Alone."

If anything Naomi's grin grew even more self-satisfied and she glanced over her shoulder. "I'll call you later, Stephanie."

The girl's shoulders slumped, clearly disappointed, but she did as asked and departed with a conspiring wink that had all the subtlety of a freight train. Liam shook his head as he watched her melt into the crowd. Whatever happened, one thing would never change. Naomi would never run out of sycophants to hang on her every snarky word.

"Okay. We're _alone,_" Naomi grinned as she turned back to the contents of her locker. "What's so important?"

In thirty seconds he'd said more to his ex than he had in three months and already he was sick of it. With Naomi, honesty was a fluid term and he'd been burned too many times. Bracing an arm on the open locker door, he skipped straight to the point. "If you're planning some kind of revenge, leave Annie out of it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naomi responded smoothly, still focused on gathering her belongings as if what mattered to him was only worthy of half her attention.

"Right. I'm sure you don't," he said drily. "Your little show this morning wasn't enough to convince me you're not plotting some kind of payback. I know you too well."

"Payback for what? Dating you?" she raised a brow, her laugh caustic. "My, Liam, that's quite the ego you've got. Then again, you've always been full of yourself."

"Just like you've always been a really good liar," he retorted, effectively wiping the smug grin from her face. Liam didn't care if he got Naomi to tell the truth. He didn't even care if she admitted she had a plan. All he wanted was a promise that she wouldn't go after Annie again. "If you need to be pissed at someone, blame me. I went after Annie. I pursued it. She held back because of you."

"Obviously not much since you're _really _together," she muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," she sighed and finally looked at him. The airy mask of indifference was gone and in its place a shred of vulnerability peaked through. She opened her mouth to speak, then swallowed and dropped her gaze once again. "You really love her, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter," he dodged the question, uncomfortable with the idea of sharing anything that personal with Naomi, despite the thinly veiled heartbreak in her voice. He'd fallen for that one too many times. "Annie went through hell a year ago because of both of us. She didn't deserve it then, she doesn't deserve it now. She had nothing to do with why we broke up."

"Oh, who's lying now, Liam?" Naomi asked with a wry grin that didn't reach her eyes. Before he could respond, she plunged ahead. "Fine, fine. I'll come clean if you think you can handle the truth. I wasn't thrilled when I found out about you and Annie. I mean, how much time passed before you moved on to her? Hours, days, a whole week?"

"Naomi-."

"I don't really care," she cut him off again and grabbed her purse from her locker before slamming the door. When she faced him again, her gaze drifted over his shoulder. For a split second, he thought her eyes narrowed, taking in something specific, but before he could turn she put a hand on his arm. Stepping closer, Naomi's smile was genuine, warm and completely unnerving. "Liam, I had the entire summer to pine after you and you know what? I didn't. Not at all. Of course, being surrounded by incredibly gorgeous and wealthy European men can make it pretty easy to forget all about the _boys _back home. No offense."

"Whatever," Liam replied, eyeing the hand on his arm as it crept higher.

"So, while I don't like it, I have no intention of reliving junior year," she explained. "I mean, how lame would that be? We're finally seniors and I get all wrapped up in the past? I think not. So, there's no plan for revenge against our precious little Annie or anybody else. You can tell her you did your knight in shining armor duty and defended her honor or whatever, okay?"

Believing her would have been so easy, but he'd come to expect that when Naomi's lips were moving, she was lying. So, he labored the point. "Was there a promise in there somewhere?"

"Oh, my god, Liam!" she laughed, but her smile held a sharp edge and she raised her other hand as if swearing an oath. "Do you want me to sign it in blood? Fine, I promise I will not put Annie through the same torture and humiliation she went through last year. Not that I was even planning on it. There. Happy now?"

He studied her for a moment and then finally relented with a shrug. "Sure."

"Fabulous!" she trilled and gave his arm a squeeze before turning on her heel. Halfway down the hall, she sing-songed loud enough for all those present to hear. "See you later, Liam."

He watched her disappear into the quickly thinning crowd, trying to decide if he'd just made things better or worse. Wringing that promise out of her had been easy, maybe too easy. Then again, maybe she was right and his suspicions had nothing to do with reality and everything to do with his ego. He certainly hadn't lost any sleep pining for Naomi. Breaking up with her had actually been a relief. Where did he get off assuming the same couldn't be said for her? If nothing else she didn't have to juggle all the lies anymore.

"Whatever," he muttered and started down the hallway in the opposite direction. Whether he was right or completely full of it, all Liam really cared about was protecting Annie from another round of high school hell at the hands of their classmates. Naomi had made a promise and until he figured out a way to physically force her to keep it, there wasn't much else he could do.

At the end of the corridor, he caught a flash of dark red hair disappear around a pillar. Frowning, he picked up the pace and rounded the corner in a few strides. "Annie!"

His girlfriend paused a few yards ahead of him and turned at the summons. From a distance her smile would have fooled anybody, but as he drew closer he could see it was strained. The hangover must have still been kicking her ass, he mused.

Adjusting her bag with both hands, she greeted him. "Hey. I was, uh, just about to look for you. How was your first day?"

"I just got to the best part," he grinned, leaning against the low concrete wall. Wrapping an arm around her waist, it took very little effort to coax her closer until she was standing directly in front of him. Now at her eye level, he studied her and raised an inquisitive brow. "What about you? Feeling better?"

"Yes," she allowed, her strained smile slowly morphing into something more genuine as her cheeks flushed red. The blushing image before him was a sharp contrast to the girl who'd pulled no punches seducing him the night before. Her grip on her bag loosened and she added. "Actually, I found out something really awesome today. Mr. Matthews told me I could still interview for this internship I had my eye on last spring. At the Playhouse."

He blinked in surprise. "You never told me about an internship."

"I never told anybody," she shrugged. "After I came clean about the hit and run, I figured I'd never have a chance. But, as Matthews reminded me, I'm a minor and my record is sealed, so…I don't have to say anything if I don't want to."

Liam grinned, using his hold on her to rock her on her feet . "You're going to tell them."

"You think I should?" she pressed, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"No, I wouldn't say anything, but I know you," he said pointedly. He could picture her now, trying not to squirm and meet the interviewer's eye while the truth threatened to spill out at every moment. "You're not a very good liar."

"Maybe not," she admitted, dropping her gaze. "But I can keep a secret."

"What secret?"

"Never mind," she replied, giving herself a little shake. Taking a deep breath, she tried the smile again and met his eye. "Seriously. Just ignore me today. My brain still isn't working right. Listen, can I ask you a favor?"

"Yeah," he said, trying to keep up with the sudden change of subject. "What is it?"

"Can you give Dixon a ride home?" she asked in a rush, gesturing more and more animatedly as her frustration mounted. "The interview is in half an hour. I don't have time to drop him off and get to the theater on time and I'm already nervous enough about the whole thing. If I have to drag him with me he'll whine the whole way and I might snap and kill him. Then you'd have to help me bury the body and clean up all the evidence and really it would just be easier if you agreed to take him off my hands."

"Whoa, Annie," he laughed, catching her wrists and holding them between his own. "Slow down. I can give Dixon a ride. It's not a problem."

"You say that now," she warned. "But I'm telling you. The Dixon you knew is not the one you're going to be chauffeuring around. It's like he's been replaced by a really cranky eight-year-old. He's going to drive you crazy."

"And that's different from any other day how?"

"Hey! I heard that," Dixon cried indignantly as he and Teddy ambled up to join them. "I'd love to see you go without your car for three weeks."

"Try three months," Liam countered, recalling with little difficulty the near withdrawal he'd felt the entire time he'd been stuck at that boot camp. "I've been through worse."

"Oh, which reminds me…I've got something for you," Teddy declared before Dixon had a chance to escalate the argument. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and tossed them at Liam's chest. He caught them easily and frowned at his friend.

"What's this?"

"Keys to the yacht. Dad's in Bulgaria for three months filming his latest project, so no one's using it. I figured you could crash there for awhile," Teddy shrugged as if he was offering to lend Liam his geometry notes rather than a roof over his head for the foreseeable future. "I mean, you're car's nice for something that's almost twice as old as you, but an actual bed would probably be better, right?"

Liam stared at his friend, positive he'd missed some crucial part of the conversation. There was no possible way he'd just been offered room and board on a luxury yacht. Life, his life in particular, just didn't work out that way. A furrow appeared between his brows. Addressing all three of them, he demanded. "Hold on. What? Did you put him up to this?"

"No, this is the first I've heard about it," Annie vowed, eyes wide and no doubt mirroring his own amazement. She turned to Teddy. "Are you serious?"

At the same time Liam shook his head and held out the keys. "Teddy, man, I…I can't-."

"Yes I am, and yes, you can. Do us all a favor and set aside that annoying Liam Court pride and let someone help you for once," his friend replied, ignoring the attempt to return the gift. Shouldering his bag and backing away from them down the path toward the parking lot. "If you can't do that, just…have pity on me and say yes so Silver will quit bugging me about it. You remember where the boat's docked at the marina, right?"

"Y-yeah," Liam stammered, too stunned to even comment on Silver's role in the plot to keep him from living in his car.

"Then enjoy, man," he grinned. "I'm late for practice. Catch you guys later."

Teddy departed, leaving him to stare at the set of keys on the simple silver chain. Relief and unease warred within him. Sleeping in his car sucked – not that he would have admitted that to Annie, but he was no good with indebtedness. Or gratitude apparently, as he suddenly realized he'd failed to thank his friend.

"So that's how it's done," Annie murmured close to his ear, sliding her hand across his shoulders and leaning into him.

"How what's done?"

"Getting you to accept help," she explained. When he tore his gaze away from the keys, she was smiling. "Apparently, you just have to throw it at you and then run like hell."

He scoffed, but his lips were curving into a matching grin. "Well, you got your wish. I guess I'm not living in my car."

"And I am very, _very _happy about that," she replied, kissing him quickly on the lips. With regret, she backed out of his embrace. "Now it's my turn to run. I've got to hurry if I want to make the interview on time."

"Good luck," Liam said and squeezed her hand just before distance forced her to let go. Raising a brow, he added. "Lie."

Annie rolled her eyes. "We'll see. Don't kill Dixon."

"We'll see," he replied with a wink, keeping her in his field of vision until she'd disappeared.

"Wait, what? Don't kill Dixon?" the boy in question suddenly perked up from his contemplation of his English homework and glared suspiciously at Liam. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, man," Liam laughed and pushed off the low wall. Leaving school sounded like the perfect plan. The day had been like one long ride of emotional bumper cards. "Let's get out of here."

As they crossed campus to the parking lot, Dixon predictably asked. "Can I drive?"

Liam snorted as they reached his car. "Are you high?"

"You let Annie drive," Dixon pointed out sulkily.

"Yeah, well…," Liam stopped at the driver's side door and leaned on the roof. He shrugged and continued nonchalantly. "I let Annie do a lot of things that you probably wouldn't-."

"Okay. Stop," Dixon held up his hands in disgust. "I will never ask again, just…please don't ever finish that sentence. I'm still getting used to the idea of you dating my sister."

"You missed a lot running away with Ivy," he pointed out as he slid into the driver's seat. Without a doubt it had been the most eventful summer of his life. All things considered, that was saying something.

"So I've heard," he replied as he secured his seatbelt. "Did you know that you getting shot is one of two things this school is talking about?"

"No," Liam replied uncomfortably. He wondered when he'd be able to go more than twenty-four hours without being reminded that Annie's life had been in danger and they'd both nearly died. "What's the other?"

"You hooking up with your ex-girlfriend's best friend."

Liam stared at Dixon for a moment before shaking his head and stomping on the clutch. Being the center of the West Beverly Hills High rumor mill was getting seriously old. With a disgusted shake of his head, he threw the car into gear and muttered. "Why am I not surprised?"


	7. Chapter 7

_**A.N.**__ So, did everybody enjoy the show on Monday? ;p If you enjoy this chapter even half as much as I enjoyed the most recent ep, I will be thrilled. _

Chapter Seven

The first stars were twinkling to life in the twilit sky when Liam finally stopped aimlessly cruising the streets of Beverly Hills and pulled into a parking spot near the marina. The lot was situated above the docks, giving him a clear view of Southern California's wealthiest as they put their toys away for the night. Bracing his arms over the steering wheel, he watched for awhile, letting the sun set further before grabbing his backpack and leaving his car.

The couple of times he'd been on Teddy's family yacht in the past, he'd boarded without a second thought. During the all too brief period of time he had his own boat docked in this same marina, he hadn't felt out of place, either. Now, as he descended the steps, each person he passed seemed to be judging him and wondering what the hell he was doing there.

To be honest, he was wondering the same thing. Moving out had seemed like a brilliant idea – the only idea – at the time, but after spending a night in the back seat of his car he was beginning to doubt his ability to pull it off. Sure, he'd crashed like that before, but never with the assumption that this was now his life. With that knowledge pawing at his brain, the bench in that old muscle car seemed to shrink and every spring under the worn upholstery dug into his back. He doubted he'd slept more than ten minutes in a row the whole night. Now, his friends had bailed him out and while he was relieved, a large part of him was too self-conscious about the hand out to be truly grateful.

The yacht bobbed on the water in its usual place. Very few people remained as Liam navigated the maze of walkways. By the time he reached the yacht, he was actually alone, a fact which was not lost on him as he tossed his backpack over the railing and climbed on board.

Without the throng of students and music cranked loud enough to make the walls shake, the craft felt bigger. He wandered the decks, quickly acclimating to the gentle motion of the tide in the harbor. Seasickness had never been a problem for him and within minutes his anxiety and restlessness eased. Moving almost silently over the highly polished wooden flooring he made his way to the bow and stared out at the horizon. Gradually, his perception shifted as it always did on the water. Maybe he could deal with staying here for awhile.

His cell phone rang and he knew before checking the caller ID that it was Annie. Already grinning, he answered. "Hey, Rockstar."

On the other end of the line, his girlfriend groaned. "You have to keep reminding me? I just barely made it through dinner with the family without throwing up all over the eggplant parmesan."

"I thought you said you were feeling better."

"Better is kind of relative when you start out a couple steps below roadkill," she pointed out with a dramatic sigh that only made his smile widen.

"How was the interview?" he asked, leaning on the white painted railing and propping a foot on the lowest rung.

"Horrible," she revealed immediately, but the humor was clear in her tone.

"You told the truth, didn't you," he accused with a sigh.

"I did. And I'm pretty sure after my performance I've got a better chance of winning the lottery than getting that internship," she said with only a hint of melancholy. "I tried, Liam. Believe me. I kept my mouth shut all the way through to the end of the interview, but the way this woman was heaping praise on me, like I was some amazing person-."

"You _are _an amazing person."

"Who could do no wrong," she continued pointedly. "I just…I kept that secret for so long and I didn't want to do it anymore. Being honest actually felt…good."

"What am I going to do with you?" he asked, shaking his head in disbelief. In truth, he admired her, was even proud of the way she was compelled to do the right thing.

"How about thank me since the internship would have taken up a _lot _of my time and we would barely have seen each other," she said, good humor overtaking her disposition completely. "And I would have been asking you to taxi Dixon around a lot more."

"Thank you," Liam replied, genuinely sincere. Dixon was one of his best friends, but the poor guy was barely recognizable at the moment. "Hanging out with him right now would get real old, real fast."

"He's awful, isn't he?"

"Oh my god," he groaned by way of response. The drive from school to the Wilson house had been the longest of his life. "How much longer is he supposed to be grounded?"

"I don't know," she answered in obvious frustration. "A week, a month, I don't even think my mom knows. How's the yacht?"

Glancing over his shoulder he eyed the darkened windows of the bridge. "Big, empty. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome not having to crash in my car, but, I don't know, it's weird being here by myself."

"Is that your way of saying you want some company?" she teased.

"Are you offering?" he countered, recalling the last time they'd been there together. "That cabin's gonna be lonely without you. Nobody would even be here to catch us."

"Tempting," Annie admitted, her tone still light and playful, but the undercurrent of real longing carried through the connection and tugged at something deep within him. "But mom wouldn't go for another late night. I think she noticed how green I was at dinner and since you are so afraid of her…"

"I'm _what?_"

"Oh, come on, Liam," she chided. "You think I haven't noticed how you stand like, three feet away from me whenever she's around? I think it's adorable. Liam Court getting all tongue-tied in front of my mom of all people. So much for the bad boy, huh?"

Liam felt his cheeks burn at her gentle teasing, but he couldn't argue. Even though Debbie's master plan to expose Jeffery's true colors to his mother had only lasted a few weeks, he was still a little bit in awe of the woman. Unwilling to let his mind drift back to the bitter disappointment of yesterday afternoon, he told Annie the truth. "Yeah, well…your mom's an exception."

"Why?"

"Because I owe her," he replied and swallowed the little bit of anxiety he always felt when attempting brutal honesty. "And because…she's one of the only adults who actually seems to tolerate me."

"Liam-."

"And because if she wanted to, she could make it really hard for me to see you," he continued, noting the most obvious reason to stay on Debbie Wilson's good side. "And that would suck. A lot."

On the other end of the line, Annie fell silent for such a long time, Liam started to wonder if the call had been dropped. He was about to pull the phone away from his ear and check when she finally spoke. "You know, my mom really does like you. If we explained the situation, I'm sure we could convince her-Wait, what?"

Liam frowned, hearing a voice faintly in the background telling Annie about another phone call. Within seconds she was back, her tone apologetic. "Liam, I've gotta go. I'll call you later?"

"Yeah, sure," he nodded and said goodbye, grateful they'd been interrupted so he didn't have to turn down another offer to stay at the Wilson's. Annie had been disappointed enough the first time, although she'd promised she understood. No amount of smooth talking would convince Debbie not to try to fix his situation.

But there was more to it than just that. Shouldering his backpack, Liam made his way to the lower deck and back to the cabin. Leaving the lights off, he tossed his bag to the floor by the bed and sprawled out on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling. Even if he'd agreed to stay and they somehow managed to convince Debbie not to get involved, he knew it would only be a matter of time before he ruined the trust she miraculously had in him. Taking that bullet for Annie scored him some major points, but he seriously doubted Debbie would keep that in mind when she walked in on him and her daughter naked in bed or something. Because there was no way he'd be able to live under the same roof as his girlfriend and not take advantage of it. Being on his best behavior was one thing. Being a freaking saint just wasn't in the cards. And hell, that was the best case scenario. With the way trouble seemed to be drawn to him like some kind of homing beacon, the reality of his inevitable fall from Debbie's good graces would probably be much worse. Strangely, he _really _didn't want to disappoint her.

Weighed down by the drama of the past two days, he dragged a hand over his face and closed his eyes. That line of thought was pointless. The yacht would be fine until he figured out something better, something that didn't require him to mooch off his friends. What he needed now was sleep. Maybe then his brain wouldn't feel so sluggish.

Before he'd reached so much as a doze, his phone rang. Assuming it was Annie again, he frowned when the caller ID registered as an unknown number. For a second he toyed with letting it go to voicemail, but curiosity got the better of him. Pressing a button, he answered.

"Hey, Liam! Man, is that you?" a faintly familiar voice demanded.

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Dude! You have the same number. That's awesome," the voice declared. "It's Lucas."

Surprise robbed Liam of words for a few seconds before he stammered. "Lucas, what…I thought you were in jail."

"Out on bail, dude," Lucas said, obviously quite pleased with the development. "I'm under house arrest, though. Got the ankle bracelet and everything."

That was one punishment Liam had never had the misfortune of suffering. "That sucks."

"It's not so bad. Better than the big house, that's for sure," he pointed out. "I'll be there soon enough anyway. Listen, I need a favor."

"A favor?" he demanded, harsher than he intended, but he couldn't seem to get a handle on his shock around this person from a past that felt like another lifetime.

"Are you still driving that badass Judge?" Lucas asked. If he'd been put off by the attitude, he didn't show it. When Liam answered in the affirmative, he dropped the slacker speak and slipped into business mode. "I cashed in for a race tonight and I need a pinch hitter. You interested?"

"You want me to drive. In a race," Liam replied dumbly by way of an answer. "I-I haven't raced in over a year."

"Doesn't matter. I've seen you behind the wheel and you can't tell me you haven't been taking to the open road from time to time and letting that beast do what it was made to do," Lucas argued. "Look, the race is a joke, okay? A bunch of Orange County trust fund brats. Big pot, no talent. Definitely no one you can't handle."

Several questions ran through Liam's head, but only one of them really mattered. "How much?"

"Two grand," Lucas revealed, his grin clear even over the phone. "Half goes back to the team, half you pocket.

Liam kept silent, pretending to think it over, but in his mind he was already there, leaning against his car and feeling the frenetic energy of hundreds of people buzzing around him. They were all there for the rush, even though only a small handful of them would ever get behind the wheel and test their limits in a race. Until that moment, he hadn't let himself consider how much he missed it. Now he could feel the clawing space in his chest grasping for the thrill once more. And the escape. Thought was impossible in a race. The real world and all its problems took a backseat to instinct the second he popped the clutch.

Snatching his keys from the bedside table, he was halfway off the boat before he finished speaking. "I'm in."

Cleaning up after the earthquake had dominated Debbie's waking hours for the past day and a half. Now, having sent Dixon outside with the last trash bag of debris, she retreated to her bedroom for some much deserved relaxation. It had taken some time, but the place she once shared with Harry was beginning to feel like a real haven, rather than a painful reminder of what was no longer there.

Crossing to her dresser, she began to remove her jewelry. Thinking to draw a bath and lock the door behind her, she paused upon tugging her cell phone out of her back pocket. After a moment, she changed her plans and quickly dialed a number she'd only recently committed to memory.

"Colleen," she replied brightly when the other woman answered. "It's Debbie. Is now a good time?"

"It's a perfect time," she said, although Colleen's tired and strained voice told a slightly different story. "Jeffery's working late tonight. A business meeting, supposedly. He won't be back for hours yet."

"So, you went ahead with the plan," Debbie breathed a sigh that was equal parts relief and nerves. While she'd agreed with Colleen that the only sure-fire way to nail Jeffery for cheating was to catch him in the act, she wasn't completely on board with the idea of her new friend resuming her farce of a marriage. Unfortunately, she'd been unable to think of an alternative.

"Yeah, I did. Jeffery moved back in yesterday. The earthquake helped, actually," she explained with a dry chuckle. "I believed he was truly concerned…although he might just have been worried about structural damage to the house."

"How'd Liam take it?"

Colleen fell silent and Debbie tried to be patient as she waited for a response. When the other woman finally spoke, she wasn't surprised by the revelation. "Not well. I didn't…I decided not to tell him about the plan."

That shocked her. "What? Why not?"

"I don't want him involved," Colleen replied in a rush. "I'm doing this _for _him, but he'd never accept that. Plus, it will be hard enough to pull this off without Jeffery suspecting me. Liam can't pretend with him. He's never been able to and I need Jeffery to be careless."

"Well, he's…he's your son, so it's your call," Debbie said, biting her tongue to hold back unsolicited advice.

"Have you seen him today?" Colleen asked in a small voice.

Taken aback, Debbie nodded before she remembered she was on the phone. "Yeah. He gave Dixon a ride after school and Annie was just talking to him. Isn't he at home?"

"He's… been avoiding me," Colleen said and quickly changed the subject. "I've been thinking about hiring a private detective to follow Jeffery when he's not here."

"That sounds like a plan," Debbie agreed. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

"No, but I have a meeting with my lawyer tomorrow. I'm sure she'll have some ideas," Colleen said absently. Once again the line fell silent and Debbie was beginning to think they'd been disconnected when her friend spoke again. "Can-can you do me a favor?"

"I can try."

"Keep an eye on Liam for me," Colleen said, her voice thick with sorrow. "I'm sure you'll be seeing more of him than I will. I can deal with him being mad at me as long as I know he's okay."

"Of course," Debbie readily agreed. A few minutes later she said her goodbyes and ended the call. Gazing thoughtfully at her phone, she realized how lucky she was. Even though she still felt like a failure for ending her marriage, at least she'd never had to consider hiring a P.I.

Once Liam got within three blocks of the race site, the thundering base of a hundred cars led him the rest of the way. Turning onto a stretch of road lined with abandoned warehouses, he experienced an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Candy colored toys littered the street; most of them plastic imports with ridiculous accoutrements, exactly what he'd expect from a bunch of Orange County kids, but some of them were classic American muscle. Pulling smoothly into the first spot he found, he noted this was probably the only place his car didn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Climbing out of his car, Liam took a moment to survey the crowd. Lucas had said to find Nico, that the team was expecting him. At most races, those competing were pretty easy to find and this time was no exception. Nico, Lindsay and Trevor – the only team Liam had known Lucas to race with - were clustered in the center of the action. A few unfamiliar faces milled around them. When one in particular came into focus, Liam groaned. "Brennen. That's just…freaking perfect."

Brennen Lange was every bit as pretentious as his name. A mainstay of the street racing circuit, he was an anomaly among the rich kid wannabes because he was actually good. Very good, in fact. During the six months Liam had raced he'd only lost twice. Once because he'd blown a tire twenty yards from the finish line and once to Brennen.

All of that was annoying enough, but the real icing on the cake was Brennen's sister, Vanessa. The one-time fling that just wouldn't go away and according to Lucas, still talked about him. Wherever Brennen went, Vanessa followed with her entourage who loved her for her money and connections. Sure enough, as soon as the thought formed in his head, Vanessa emerged from the crowd and strolled toward her brother. Leaning against the hood, she worked her long legs and short skirt to her advantage, tossing the curly mass of dark hair over her shoulder. She was putting on a show and just about every male in the vicinity fell for it. Liam rolled his eyes. The girl was gorgeous, but he'd learned the hard way she was a possessive freak who wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Might as well get this over with," Liam muttered, shoving his keys in his pocket and taking one last deep breath before setting out for the small cluster of people in the center of the street. As he passed each group, he felt the weight of their stares and as much as he didn't care who they were or what they thought it was hard not to flinch.

"Liam Court," Nico drawled upon seeing him. "Long time, no see, man."

"Yeah, it's been awhile," he replied neutrally. Nico wasn't his biggest fan. In fact, he was pretty sure the gangly Latino mechanical genius was pissed Lucas had called in an outsider rather than give him the keys.

"So nice of you to swoop in and save the day," he nodded. Liam winced inwardly. Okay, yup. Definitely pissed.

"Shut up, Nico," Lindsay sighed, clearly having heard this line of whining all day. She was a friend of Lucas's from their grade school days and the two had dated a couple times. For all Liam knew they were still together. Lindsay reminded him a lot of Ivy – if Ivy had been a few inches shorter, brunette and built like Betty Page. She flashed him a kewpie doll grin. "Welcome back."

"I'm not back," Liam said, but he caught himself returning the easy smile. "I'm just doing Lucas a favor."

"Because you were so helpful like that before," Nico sneered.

"How's your car running?" Trevor cut in. Always the business man, Trevor didn't know a spark plug from a carburetor, but he knew how to put together a race and fighting among team members wasn't part of the plan.

"Perfect," Liam said, trying to ignore the obvious stares of the spectators. They weren't even making an attempt at subtle. Suddenly, he was anxious to get behind the wheel and away from all the prying eyes. "Show me the route and let's do it."

"You haven't changed, Court. Still cocky as ever," Brennen declared, his voice carrying over the crowd so that even the people who hadn't noticed him before now turned to gawk. Just behind her brother, Vanessa whipped around at the sound of his name, her carefully constructed façade of cool indifference crumbling with shock. "I thought near-death experiences made people value their lives more, not less."

Liam hadn't the slightest idea what Brennen was talking about, but he refused to rise to the bait. Smiling thinly, he played along. "That's funny. I heard they made people live life to the fullest."

Lindsay snorted and grabbed Liam by the arm, guiding him back toward the Judge. Nico and Trevor trailed after them. "God, Brennen is such a douche. I don't know how he crams his ego into that tiny front seat."

"What the hell was he talking about?"

"Seriously?" she laughed at Liam's blank expression. "You think Brennen knows a lot of people who got shot over the summer?"

"He heard about that?"

"After you told Lucas, word spread," she shrugged. "Why do you think everybody's been staring at you? I mean, aside from this prodigal James Dean vibe you've got going on, of course."

Liam shook his head in disbelief. Lucas found out about the shooting yesterday and somehow it had spread through an entire racing community that he barely even knew. Then something clicked and he stopped in the middle of the street. "He did it on purpose, didn't he?"

Lindsay looked at him innocently, her green eyes wide. "I don't know what you mean," she grinned.

Liam looked around at the buffed and tanned throng of gaping rich kids. He knew what they got out of this – the same thing he always had, really. They were all there for the rush and the heady thrill of flaunting the rules and getting away with it. The parties, the alcohol and drugs, the sex – they could get that whenever and wherever they wanted and were constantly searching for ways to make the high bigger and better. Tonight, with his presence they were getting a double dose of adrenaline. If it wasn't so ridiculous, Liam would have been angry. They were getting off on the fact that he'd been shot and lived to tell the tale.

He didn't have long to dwell on the way Lucas had obviously used him to intimidate the trust fund competition. Once they arrived back at the GTO, everybody – including Nico – was all business. The route was a simple mile long loop that Liam had no trouble memorizing. The clusters of spectators cleared quickly when the time came to line up the cars. Liam and Brennen bookended two drivers he'd never seen before.

Somehow Vanessa had been given the coveted honor of starting the race. Liam tried to ignore her as she sauntered slowly down the line of revving engines and struck a provocative pose way too close to the grill of his car. Lindsay rolled her eyes at the other girl's back and he cracked a smile just as Vanessa looked his way. Offering him a wink that would have been sexy as hell if he hadn't known better, she lifted her arms and waited for the drivers' attention. Lindsay sighed and gripped the back of Vanessa's low slung skirt, pulling her a safe distance away from his car. The dark haired vixen shot the pin-up girl a dirty look as she struggled to balance on her stilettos.

Liam revved the engine, letting the purr of the beast pull his focus away from everything else. By the time Vanessa's arm came down even thoughts of Annie had faded into the background as he stomped on the accelerator. The Judge shot away from the starting line and sped into the night. He kept his focus straight ahead, seeing everything but focusing on nothing. The route would bring them back to where they began and within the first quarter mile, the two middle cars had fallen a tenth behind. What seemed like nothing to the naked eye was life or death in a race that short.

At the first turn, Brennen was in the lead. Liam glanced his way as he gripped the gear shift and listened to the roar of the engine. He knew the car well enough to shift by feel. Brennen's turbo charged Acura ZDX was light and quick, but obviously new and he took the corner too wide, allowing Liam to take the inside and spring into the lead, leaving a trail of burned rubber in his wake.

On the straightaway, the odometer crept toward seventy while the sleepy industrial streets whizzed by his windows in a blur of steel and concrete. Brennan regained his ground on the stretch and once again on the next turn experience was the only thing keeping Liam in the lead.

"You've gotten better," Liam muttered, flicking his gaze toward his competition more frequently now. Adrenaline rushed through his veins, familiar and sweet as he and Brennen took the third corner in tandem, neither one giving an inch. Renewing his focus on the road, Liam blocked out even the slight distraction of his opponent. Brennen only mattered if he took the lead.

The forth corner was mere seconds away. Whoever made the last turn first would most likely be the winner. Taking a chance, Liam eased off the accelerator, letting Brennen edge ahead. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other boy smirk over his shoulder in triumph. Liam ignored the taunt, waiting.

Just as he expected, Brennen got lazy on the last turn, taking it far wider than even the first. Liam shifted and stomped on the accelerator. The tires screamed and the engine groaned as he wrenched the steering wheel and took the corner so tight he felt the wheels of the passenger side momentarily lift off the ground. The corner cleared, he shifted again, going all out for the final stretch. Brennen made a valiant attempt, but Liam still crossed the finish line a full car length in the lead.

Downshifting quickly, he winced as the Judge protested the rough treatment. Rolling to a stop some fifty yards from the finish line, he killed the engine. The sudden silence rang in his ears. An acrid scent of burned rubber filled his nostrils and he gripped the steering wheel tightly, his breathing ragged. So much adrenaline was coursing through his veins, he knew if he took his hands away from the wheel they'd be shaking. The euphoria was so intense, if he tried he thought he might actually be able to fly. From start to finish, the entire race had taken less than five minutes, but he'd felt every second like a lifetime. How could he have given that up for a _year? _

The advancing crowd reflected in his rearview mirror and he pulled himself back to reality. Groping for the door handle, he drew as deep a breath as he could manage and climbed out. Lindsay got to him first, leaping off the ground in her excitement.

"That was amazing!" she exclaimed, her eyes flashing as they stared in wonder at the orange beast he was leaning against. His legs felt a little like jell-o. "I swear I don't know how you make this overweight piece of tin move like that."

"Hey," he managed, crossing his arms to hide both his shallow breathing and the slight tremor in his hands. "You'll hurt her feelings. That piece of tin just netted you a grand."

"And you as well," Trevor announced, holding out a battered stack of bills. The normally stoic numbers man had a small smile himself. "Nice driving. Lucas knew what he was doing."

"H-how is he?" Lindsay asked, doing her best to sound casual. Liam glanced up from the wad of cash and immediately saw the worry in her eyes. Together or not, she clearly still had feelings for the guy.

"He was…Lucas," Liam replied, scrambling for a better way to explain his impressions of a guy he'd barely spoken to in a year. "Exactly how I remembered him. Handcuffs really didn't slow him down."

She managed a smile and opened her mouth, but before she could speak Vanessa wedged her way into the small space between them, standing so close he could feel the heat radiating from her scantily clad body.

"Nice race tonight, Liam," she murmured, her deliberately low voice barely audible beneath the low roar of the crowd. Trailing her fingers up his arm, she leaned so close her lips almost brushed his ear. "I'm glad your back."

With a grimace, he jerked away, less than smooth. Arms still crossed he tried to tamp down his irritation. "I'm not back, Vanessa."

"Why not?" she pouted, oblivious as usual to his disinterest. Not for the first time he wanted to kick himself for sleeping with her in the first place.

"Because my girlfriend doesn't like it," he replied evenly.

Vanessa's sultry eyes hardened, but she didn't falter. Placing a hand on her hip, she lifted a perfectly tanned shoulder as she turned away. Glancing over her shoulder she taunted. "I thought Liam Court didn't do girlfriends."

"Things change."

"And sometimes they change back," she trilled. Liam looked past her to Brennan, fuming by his car as he took in the entire exchange. When she was out of earshot, Lindsay scowled.

"That girl is a parasite," she muttered in disgust. "Sucks to be you, man."

"Whatever," he shrugged, reaching in his pocket for his cell phone. "I'm not back, so I really don't have to deal with it."

"You really mean that?" Lindsay pressed as he noted a missed call. "Even after that stellar showing, you…you don't miss it?"

Liam paused, staring at Annie's number on the call history of his phone. He missed it. Ever since he'd been hauled off to bootcamp, he'd been missing it. The rush, the speed, the competition, and hell, the cash. That spring when he'd been racing steadily he'd pulled in nearly fifteen thousand dollars. Even Vanessa hadn't managed to put a dent in the euphoric high that a good race brought.

But that was then and he was a different now. He flashed Lindsay a grin and pressed a button to check his voicemail. A message from Annie came over the speaker and even the digital recording couldn't mask her excitement.

"Hey, Liam. I'm sorry it took so long to call you back. I got the internship! I can't believe it quite yet but that phone call was from the Playhouse. They appreciated my honesty and loved my enthusiasm and oh my god, I'm so excited. There's no way I'll be able to sleep tonight. Give me a call when you get this, okay? I love you."

Liam deleted the message, still smiling. Annie sounded like he felt. Ecstatic and ready to take on the world. Moving toward the front of his car, he called her back, anxious to speak to her. On the last ring a very sleepy voice answered. "Hello?"

"I thought you said you wouldn't be able to sleep tonight," he teased, mildly disappointed she'd been asleep.

"Liam," she murmured. He heard a faint sigh. "What time is it?"

"A little after eleven," he replied. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," she said dreamily, her smile radiating through the phone. "Where are you? It's so loud."

Liam hesitated and looked around at the throng of poser rich kids and glistening, tricked out cars. He pictured Annie there and was surprised at how much it unsettled him. Their classmates at West Beverly could be spoiled brats, but they had nothing on the Brennen's and Vanessa's here.

"Liam?"

"You should go back to sleep," he said, avoiding the question. She was exhausted. He could tell her about the race later. "I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you, too," she murmured, already drifting back to sleep. Liam hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Turning around, he found Lindsay smirking and shaking her head at him.

"What?"

"You were serious about the girlfriend," she marveled. "I'm impressed. I thought it was just a line to get Vanessa off your…everything. Is it that girl you were hanging out with last year?"

Liam frowned. "You mean Naomi? No, this is, um…someone else."

"Okay, forget I said anything," Lindsay held up her hands when he didn't offer her anymore. Nico appeared with a case of beer and started handing out bottles. Liam hesitated.

"You're the man of hour," he pointed out, the way he said it making the praise sound like condemnation. "You're not too good to stay and celebrate with us, are you?"

Liam stared at the bottle, feeling the energy of the crowd and the lingering adrenaline rushing through his veins. He could go home now, he should, but why leave when he could prolong the feeling by staying later. The after parties were almost as good as the races themselves. The crowd was already keyed up and the blaring music, alcohol and drugs that flowed like water kept everybody riding high well into the morning. Even his distaste for Vanessa and her brother paled in comparison to the temptation.

Taking the offered bottle, he used his key to pop the cap. Tipping it in a mock toast, he downed half of it in a single gulp. He might as well stay and enjoy himself. It's not like he had a real home to go to anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Annie wandered slowly through the dress displays at bebe, studying each ensemble carefully. On the other side of the deep, but narrow store, Silver eyed a silk print mini-dress in shades of brown and cream with African inspirations. Annie couldn't imagine wearing it, but Silver could pull it off. Smiling wanly, she returned her careful consideration to a black satin panel dress and bit her lip. The garment looked so much like something Naomi would wear, Annie was half convinced the girl actually owned it. Running her fingers down the horizontal pleating, she sighed and moved on.

Naomi's birthday party was only hours away and Annie and Silver were both searching for something new in honor of the occasion. Initially, a section of flowing pastel pinks and purples had caught Annie's eye, but after wrestling internally for five minutes, she forced herself to another section where black, silver and ridiculous hemlines dominated. While not nearly as driven as the day of the earthquake party, Annie had no intention of stepping back into her comfort zone. Jasper's prediction still weighed too heavily on her mind.

A silver mini-dress beckoned and she ventured closer to inspect the design. Just as she'd figured, when the effects of her hangover had worn off that first day of school, she'd been overcome with self-consciousness and even mild horror at what had transpired the night before. The only thing that had given her the courage to look Liam in the eye was the fact that he hadn't acted any different. Whatever he thought of her Girl's Gone Wild behavior, he kept to himself, if he even noticed at all.

Over the course of a few days, however, the once comforting silence had morphed into a nagging worry. Why hadn't Liam said anything? It wasn't the first, or second, time they'd had sex, but it was certainly the most…risky. The mere thought of how easily they could have been caught still made her turn a furious shade of red. Annie didn't consider herself a prude, but there was a vast difference between living dangerously and doing it in public. She figured Liam should have at least commented on that little bit of brazen behavior.

"I think I'm going to try this on," Silver interrupted Annie's inner debate and held up the brown and cream silk dress. Up close the macramé neckline was even more over-the-top. Annie grinned.

"Only you could pull that off," she vowed. Holding up the skimpy silver dress, she twisted it so the crystal detailing around the bust sparked in the fluorescent lighting. "What do you think?"

Silver raised a brow in obvious skepticism. "It's pretty…"

"But?" she prompted.

"But it's not…very _you_," her friend pointed out. Ignoring the spike of anxiety in her stomach, Annie nodded.

"Then it's perfect," she replied airily, leading the way to the dressing rooms.

"Perfect?" Silver said, clearly bewildered. "What are you trying to do? Out-Naomi the birthday girl at her own party?"

"Maybe I'm just broadening my horizons," Annie muttered as she slipped into the tiny white-walled cubicle and shut the door. She hung the dress on the provided hook and stared at it for a moment. If only she could out do her best friend. Former best friend? At this point she really wasn't sure _what _to consider Naomi. After the run-in on the first day of school and the girl's completely unexpected acceptance of her relationship with Liam, Annie had been holding her breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. Between every class she half expected to find her locker door inscribed with some even more horrendous obscenity than the previous year or to once again feel the weight of a hundred accusing stares whenever she walked down the hall. Granted, her and Liam's status as a couple _was _the talk of West Bev, despite the fact that half the school had seen them together over the summer, but the talk this time wasn't hostile, merely curious.

In fact the only time Annie had felt threatened by Naomi – more than usual anyway – happened at the end of the first day when she'd seen Liam talking to her by her locker. She'd been too far away to hear their words, but that hadn't stopped her stomach from dropping to her shoes and every ounce of the nausea she'd thought was behind her from surging to burn the back of her throat. By the time Naomi offered him that lilting farewell – the only part of the conversation she'd been able to hear – Annie had been seconds away from full blown paranoia. It just didn't make any sense. Naomi _should _be pissed and plotting revenge. That's just how she operated.

Shedding her clothes and tossing them absently aside, she slipped the dress off the hangar and over her head. When Liam had finally caught up with her, she'd nearly lobbied him with twenty questions right there and then. Something had stopped her, however, and saved her from making an utter fool of herself. Annie didn't know if it was the way Liam had touched her and kept her from running away, or the way he'd focused on her so completely, but by the time she'd left for her interview she'd almost forgotten the witnessed conversation. Almost. At least enough to shove it to the back of her mind where it belonged.

Appraising her reflection in the mirrors, she admired the way the fabric clung to her body, the ruching accentuating her curves. Standing up the skirt was ridiculously short. If she bought it, she foresaw a night of very little sitting. The hidden back zipper was too low for her to reach, so she poked her head out of the dressing room.

"Silver, I need help."

"Just a second," the other girl muttered from behind the slatted white door. A moment later, she nudged it open with her hip and came out, her hands busily tying the halter style top. Just as Annie had predicted, the willowy brunette pulled off the exotic look with aplomb. Her short, cropped hair and wide blue eyes popped against the wildly pattered garment. She held out her arms. "Well?"

"I was _so_ right. It looks perfect. Of course. Can you zip me?" Gathering her hair, Annie turned around while Silver worked the zipper. Now it was Annie's turn to seek approval and her friend considered carefully before speaking. She bit her lip. "Well?"

"I stand corrected," Silver shrugged. "That dress is definitely you."

Annie grinned in relief. For several minutes they stood in front of the three way mirrors, the conversation focused on make-up and hair and whether or not Silver needed new shoes to match her dress. As they were about to go back to their separate dressing rooms to change, Silver stopped Annie in her tracks with an unexpected question.

"Are we really doing this?"

Annie looked over her shoulder, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Doing what, buying clothes?"

"Going to Naomi's party," Silver fiddled with a decorative drape of fabric, her eyes downcast. "Do you really think it's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked, attempting for once not to make assumptions.

"I'm still…really mad at her," Silver confessed. With a disgusted flick of her hands, she dropped the fabric and met Annie's searching gaze. "And I don't trust her."

"With what?"

"With anything," she replied, her eyes wide and full of months of pent up frustration. "She ditched us for an entire summer and now she just expects an apology and a party invitation to make up for that? Well, I'm sorry. No. I can't get over it that easily. And I don't believe for a second that she's okay with you and Liam being together. Do you?"

Annie hesitated, her eyes downcast. "She said she was-."

"Annie!"

Shifting anxiously from foot to foot, she sucked in a sharp breath. "Fine. No. I mean…not really. It's not like her."

"Exactly!"

"But what else are we supposed to do?" Annie demanded. "Not go and start a fight where there isn't one?"

"Or go and walk right into Naomi's trap," Silver folded her arms. "I've known her a long time and even when we were friends some of the things she did to people who pissed her off…she could have out-Mean Girled the Plastics."

The realization that Silver could be right slammed into Annie with sickening clarity. She wanted to kick herself for being so naïve and not thinking of it before. This could be Naomi's ultimate revenge. A huge, humiliating trap at the party of the decade that everybody who was anybody clamored to attend. Wearily, she leaned her forehead against the doorframe, lips pursed in thought. It was only the third day of school, she already she longed for the simplicity of the summer. Jasper and Jeffery were easily identifiable adversaries. No matter what happened, they were the enemy. Now she had Naomi and her unknowable agenda hanging over her head. Question stacked upon contradiction until she wanted to tear out her hear and cry. Finally, she said. "Okay, look. If we don't go, we definitely make things worse. Either because we hurt Naomi by shafting her or because she gets pissed we ruined her plans. But if we go we've got a 50/50 shot, right?"

Silver thought about it a few moments and made a face. "Ugh. I hate your logic. But when you're right, you're right. We'll just have to stick together. There's safety in numbers."

"Exactly," Annie agreed, forcing a confident smile. Mollified, Silver ducked into her dressing room, leaving Annie to slowly do the same. Removing the dress she carefully returned it to the hangar and tried to ignore the butterflies whipping through her stomach on the wings of a hurricane. She'd never been excited about the party, but she hadn't started dreading it until that moment.

"It's just one night," she whispered, getting dressed once again in her own clothes. The mere thought of skipping it brought such lightness to her heart that nearly made her dizzy. Now, she had to use her own reasoning to strengthen her resolve. Attending Naomi's party might be a mistake, but not going was guaranteed friendship suicide. Liam would be there, she reminded herself. Even if the worst happened, he promised wouldn't let her suffer alone like before. Holding tight to that thought, she grabbed the dress and her purse and left the dressing room.

* * *

After waving goodbye to her hastily departing sister, Naomi closed the front door with an exasperated sigh. Jen had nearly broken their truce with her overzealous attempts to party proof the house. Naomi had been forced to remind her that her classmates would start showing up soon and if she didn't get the hell out she'd be forced to talk to them. The threat had sent her beloved sister straight out the door and tearing down the driveway en route to a luxury suite at the Beverly Wilshire. Naomi's treat, of course. She learned from her mistakes and even if they were on friendly terms there was no way Jen was welcome at one of her parties.

Aside from the caterers Naomi was now alone in the house. Idly, she strolled from room to room, fulfilling her compromise with Jen by hiding anything still out that looked breakable. Since Jen's taste leaned toward modern, sharp edged and industrial there wasn't much to hide. If any of her drunken guests should stumble into something chances were they'd get a concussion and her sister's priceless treasures would be no worse for the wear. Naomi wrinkled her nose at a grey vase she particularly hated and nudged it closer to the edge of an end table. With any luck, one of her classmates would take care of that little bit of atrociousness.

Ascending the curving staircase, she moved to the railing and braced her arms against the polished surface. Her face reflected back at her on everything from posters to cookies to swag bags. Two bars had been set up, one in the corner of the living room, the other near the table of food outside by the pool. She'd personally made sure it was stocked to the teeth with top shelf everything. She'd had the best DJ in town booked for the occasion for the past six months. For once, the world was completely and justifiably all about her. Warmth spread through her, quieting the ulcer she most assuredly had been nursing since the rape and a slow smile curved her lips. This birthday was going to be perfect.

With a contented sigh, she straightened and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her body hugging fuchsia sheath dress. With a skill most runway models would envy, she descended the steps with ease in her four inch matching heels and proceeded to the bar. Putting on her most seductive smile for the GQ worthy bartender, she said. "I'd like a drink."

The grin he offered in return would have turned her knees to jello six months ago. Despite is obvious appeal, her stomach twisted sourly. "One of your namesake?"

"Oh, no," she shook her head, refusing the specially designed drink made just for the occasion. Years of practice made it easy for her to maintain a façade, no matter what was brewing beneath the surface. "Long island, please. Heavy on the island."

"Coming right up," he winked. The second he looked away, she gripped the bar to keep from sinking to the floor. In addition to being good looking, the bartender was also quick and in no time, he slid a high ball glass toward her, lemon wedged expertly on the rim.

"Thank you," she murmured, taking the drink and turning her back so he couldn't see how quickly she guzzled down half the contents. The alcohol was expertly mixed and went down smooth with a pleasant burn. She'd barely eaten anything all day and while she figured it had to be her imagination, Naomi was fairly certain she felt it working already. The frayed edges of her nerves smoothed and the razor blades in her stomach dulled. She glanced toward the front door and saw the assigned caterer had taken up his position as doorman and possible bouncer. Everything was ready.

The patio doors had been propped open to ease traffic and Naomi crossed the threshold to the pool. Just as she took a seat on a pristine white lounge style pool chair, she heard the doorbell ring. Taking another huge gulp of her Long Island, she quieted a sudden flare of anxiety and plastered a smile on her face. "Let the party begin."

* * *

In the past few months, Liam had been to the Wilson house so often his car almost knew the way by heart. Barely twisting the wheel, he slid expertly into his usual spot on the street and let the engine idle. To anybody else, the Judge purred better than a car its age had any business to, but to his practiced – and some might say paranoid – ear something was amiss. Ever since the race there'd been a quiet but distinct ticking somewhere in the heart of the beast. No matter how much time he spent under the hood he couldn't find the source. Grumbling, he turned the key. The mystery would drive him nuts until he figured it out.

Ivy's jeep was parked in the driveway and she and Dixon were exiting the house as he approached. The blond surfer gave him her signature lazy smile and flashed him a peace sign. "Hey, Liam. How's it going?"

"It's going," he shrugged, but returned the smile. He hadn't seen much of her since she got back from Australia, but the time didn't seem to matter. Ivy was still one of the easiest people for him to be around. "How was Oz?"

"Absolutely bitchin', my friend," she assured him, the grin growing wider and her eyes lighting up. "You've got to get down there. The waves are unreal. Company kinda sucked, though."

Liam smirked at Dixon. "Yeah, I bet."

Pointedly ignoring them, Dixon gestured toward the house. "Annie's inside getting ready. Still."

"I'm not surprised," Liam chuckled.

"Oh, and before you ask, Mom's not home," he continued. "So you can save the good behavior."

"Good behavior? What are you talking about?" Ivy inquired.

Liam's cheeks grew warm. "He's being an idiot. Ignore him."

"I am not," Dixon scoffed. Addressing his girlfriend, he punched Liam lightly on the arm. "You'd barely recognize this guy. He gets so nervous around my mom, he's practically calling her ma'am and saluting."

"Oh, I've got a _salute_ for you, Dixon," Liam muttered, lifting one very specific finger to the sky.

Ivy eyed him with astonishment, a slow grin spreading over her lips. "Wow. Really. I think I need to see this."

"I think you need to bite me," Liam returned, with a sardonic smile of his own. "Now why don't you get Miss Daisy here to the party since, uh, he still can't drive himself."

Dixon's face fell. "That's just cold man. Kicking a guy when he's down."

"Yeah, whatever. My heart bleeds," Liam rolled his eyes and headed up the steps to the front door. "See you guys later."

Their goodbye was muffled as they made their way to the jeep and he closed the door. Inside the house was silent. As much as he hated to admit it, Dixon was right about how nervous he got around Debbie. In the almost eerie silence Liam was even more relieved that she wasn't home. Clearing his throat, he called. "Annie?"

"Upstairs," she replied. Liam took each step slowly, forced now that he was alone to face the fact that Naomi's party was actually happening. Dread settled heavily in his stomach as he reached the landing and turned toward Annie's room. After Naomi had ambushed them at Annie's locker on the first day of school, he'd managed to put off thinking about the subject altogether. Now, of course, he had no choice. No amount of promises made attending Naomi's birthday with Annie seem any less like poking a sleeping tiger with a short stick.

"Are you ready? Let's get this over with…" Liam poked his head through the open doorway, the words dying on his lips as he got his first glimpse of Annie. "Damn."

"You like?" she asked, tearing herself away from the vanity mirror for a moment and turning a slow circle. Her expression was almost shy but her body held nothing back. The silver dress wasn't as short as the one she'd worn to the earthquake party, but this one clung tighter to her curves, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. With her hair gathered in a messy bun that probably took hours to perfect and her feet bare Liam was pretty sure the only way he'd see more of her was if she was naked. Which was suddenly the only way he wanted to have her. Rolling her eyes at his most likely dumbfounded expression, she lifted her bare shoulder. "Well? What do you think?"

"I think," he began after he found his voice and convinced his feet to move across the carpet toward her. "That you're going to get me in a lot of trouble wearing that dress."

"Really? Why?" she wondered with a knowing smile as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and addressed her reflection in the mirror.

"Because I'm going to have to kick every guy's ass that looks at you," he replied, pressing a kiss to the curve of her neck and appreciating the way she shivered in response. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he shrugged. "I'm going to be really busy."

"You're ridiculous."

"And you must be blind," he insisted. His hands wandered up and down her arms under an influence all their own. Beneath her tan, he could just see the flush brought on by his words.

"Can you, um, finish zipping me up?" Annie asked self-consciously. "I can't reach it."

Glancing down, Liam found the tab of the zipper, closed only halfway. He tugged it up a couple of notches and stopped, meeting her gaze in the mirror and holding it. The party had seemed like a chore ten minutes ago. Now it seemed like absolute torture. "You know, it could just as easily go the other way."

Annie frowned in confusion until he began to backtrack. "Liam."

"What?" he asked innocently, dragging the zipper down with agonizing slowness.

"Stop it," she said, reaching back and trying to fight his hands away from the zipper.

"Come on," he persisted, tightening the arm around her waist when she tried to squirm away. "Forget about the party. Nobody would miss us. Your mom's gone. Dixon's gone. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Oh, and you think if you get this dress off of me I'll just be putty in your hands, huh?" she demanded, trying to arch out of his reach as he kissed his way from her shoulder to the delicate spot just behind her ear. By now the zipper was down to her lower back.

"It's a start," he murmured, lips brushing the shell of her ear and making her sag against him. Annie uttered a curse as she succumbed to persuasion and turned in his arms. This time he let her, relishing the taste of her mouth as it found his. Abandoning the zipper, he slid his hand beneath the open fabric, palming bare, warm flesh. His comment about feeling like it had been forever hadn't been a line. Annie's internship had started immediately and as a result he'd barely spent more than five minutes with her between classes the past couple of days. After spending the summer together nearly twenty-four seven, being apart so much was a startling change.

Knowing the bed was behind them, he maneuvered her towards it, intent on taking this as far as she was willing to go. If he could distract her to the point where they skipped the party completely, so be it. In her room she'd be safe and he could keep his promise.

Liam found the bed with the back of his knees and sank to the mattress, laying back and taking Annie with him. All the while he kissed her like he'd been starving for the contact, encouraged all the more when she returned the kiss with equal passion. It had only been a couple days, but already he decided this internship was going to kill him.

All too soon, however, Annie's fingers were no longer threaded through his hair, urging him closer. With a muffled cry of distress, she pressed her hands to his chest and forced some distance between them. "Liam, this…this isn't going to work."

"Pretty sure it's working fine," he said a little breathlessly. Tugging at one of her hands, he tried to throw her off balance and bring her back down to his level. At the last second she snatched her hand away.

"No. No, you don't," she shook her head, rising up on her knees for better leverage. Of course, that just put her thighs on either side of his waist, the already short hem of her skirt riding higher and exposing plenty of bare flesh. Contenting himself with that contact, he slid his hands under the ruffled edge of her dress and squeezed, raising his brow in challenge when she frowned at him. "I'm not going to cave. We are going to Naomi's party."

Sighing, Liam stared up at her, the knot back in his stomach. "What if I said I really didn't want to go?"

"I'd say you were trying to get me into bed."

"And you'd be right," he admitted readily. Sitting up, he dropped the seduction routine and brought his hand to her cheek. A few tendrils of hair had fallen over her face and he pushed them back, lingering on the softness of her skin. "But seriously. What if?"

The good natured teasing faded from Annie's deep brown eyes. "Then I'd want to know why."

Plenty of vague reasons flew to the tip of his tongue, but when he tried to put them into words, Liam realized they were nothing but feelings. A sense of impending doom that spread out in many directions but all boiled down to one static fact. "I don't trust Naomi."

Annie smiled faintly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you and Silver have been conspiring together. We had this same conversation earlier today."

"Really?" Liam raised a brow. "I take it she didn't have any luck changing your mind, either."

"No, but if makes you feel any better, your tactics came much closer and were way, _way _more fun," she teased. Settling more comfortably in his lap, Annie wrapped her arms around him and let her hands settle loosely on his shoulders. "I'll tell you the same thing I told her. I'm not totally convinced that Naomi is as…okay with us being together as she seems. I admit we could be walking into some kind of horrific trap."

"Exactly," he agreed. "Which is why-."

"We should definitely go," she insisted. Liam frowned.

"What?"

"Look, Liam…if we don't and Naomi genuinely wanted us there, then we'll be starting a war where there wasn't one."

"And if it is a trap?"

"There's safety in numbers," she said with a shrug that fell just short of casual. Her gaze fell to the open collar of his black shirt and although she tried, failed miserably at sounding nonchalant. "You know, if you really don't want to go, I understand. Silver and I can-."

"No, hold on. That's not what I meant," Liam cut her off and tipped her chin so she had to look him in the eye. There was no way he was letting Annie face this party alone. "If you go, I go. We stick together. That's how we got through the summer, that's how we'll get through this."

"If there's even anything to get through," Annie added with a relieved smile. "Naomi's had three days and she hasn't done anything. Patience is not her style, so…maybe…"

Liam saw the naked hope in Annie's eyes and knew how badly she wanted to believe in Naomi. He had to admit his ex had been living up to her promise to leave Annie alone. Maybe he was worried for nothing and Naomi really had turned over a new leaf in Europe. If _he _could change, he had to believe anybody could.

With regret that had little to do with his reservations about Naomi's part, Liam reached around and found the zipper to Annie's dress. Deliberately, he dragged it all the way to the top as Annie's smile widened. She was about to scramble off his lap when he gripped her waist, holding her in place.

"One condition," he warned. Annie raised a brow, her eyes once again sparkling and alive. He leaned in close enough for her perfume to invade his senses and it was all he could do to resist the urge to taste her again. "After the party, we pick up where we left off here."

Annie pretended to think about it, then slowly brushed her lips against his. "I think that can be arranged."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Hours later, Naomi's birthday festivities were in full swing. The carefully selected guests were partying like they hadn't all just been out until dawn days ago at the earthquake party, taking full advantage of the well stocked bar. The gift table on the landing was positively overflowing with presents of all shapes and sizes. Naomi surveyed it from her perch at the top of the stairs with a satisfied smirk. Everybody was having the time of their lives. For the rest of the school year, hers would be the event to beat. The party was a success.

Despite it all Naomi remained impervious to the celebration. She was the perfect hostess and put on a tremendous show of reveling in the attention and excess all around her, but her heart wasn't in it and her gaze kept drifting to one particular table outside by the pool.

Annie and Liam had arrived at the height of the rush, almost blending in with the other guests. They had been laughing about something, completely oblivious to anyone else. Naomi had been unprepared for the intense stab of jealousy that pierced her heart. They were really happy, she'd realized. That stupid, ridiculous, in-their-own-world joy that she was fairly certain she'd never feel again. With Liam or anybody else, thanks to Cannon. Drawing on every ounce of her reserves she had managed to keep her mask in place as she greeted them. Annie's smile and hug were genuine enough, but judging from the way Liam's body language had changed when they'd exchanged obligatory hello's, he'd rather have been just about anywhere else.

Even though she'd tried to ignore them, Naomi had been acutely aware of their progress through the house and out to the poolside, to where Silver and Teddy had already claimed a table. Now, struggling to breath around the thick lump in her throat, she sullenly noted how in tune Liam was to Annie's every move. He didn't hover or cling - he was far too cool for that - but even from a distance, Naomi could see that he only had eyes for her. Blinking furiously, she stared at the ceiling and fought to stem the tears burning behind her lids. Had Liam ever looked at her like that? The surge of self pity and despair over feeling like she'd lost something she never knew she had was almost enough to make her believe she really wanted him back.

"God, are they like, superglued together or something?" Stephanie appeared at her side and leaned her hip against the railing. A martini glass in her hand practically glowed with the blue concoction the caterers had whipped up in her honor. Naomi hadn't even tried it yet.

Grateful for the distraction, she forced a tight-lipped smile she hoped oozed confidence. "Patience. It'll happen."

"I hope so," Stephanie said, sipping delicately at what was probably her fourth or fifth drink. Naomi couldn't say much. She'd just finished her third _very _strong Long Island. The brunette furrowed her brow and cast a dark look toward the table at the pool. "I can't believe they even came. I mean, if I'd stolen your boyfriend I certainly wouldn't show up at your birthday party."

"Oh, I knew Annie would come," Naomi admitted, stifling the catty urge to point out that even with her brand new body there was no way Stephanie would be stealing any boyfriend of hers. Finally she turned her gaze on her former friend. For the first time, she really studied the girl. Her short, silver dress was actually hot, something Naomi wouldn't have minded being caught dead in. Definitely not Annie's usual Desperate Kansas Farm Girl meets Beverly Hills attempt at style. Naomi had to admit it was fantastic, even though it would have looked better on _her. _As she stared, her melancholy dissipated and self-righteous anger took its place. The difference was invigorating, dried the tears and eased the ache of her battered heart. Naomi was grateful. Annie deserved everything she had coming to her. The smile she'd worked so hard for felt genuine for the first time that night. "I'm sure Liam tried to talk her out of it, but deep down Annie's still that naïve little farm girl from Kansas."

"I didn't know she lived on a _farm_," Stephanie spit out the word with disgust and wrinkled her nose. Then she giggled.

"She didn't. That's not the point," Naomi rolled her eyes. As soon as she lured Liam away from Annie, Silver would be next. She was really getting tired of Stephanie's inane ramblings. The way the brunette worshiped the ground Naomi walked on was nice and all, but sometimes she wanted conversation that didn't involve how awesome she was. Sometimes.

Deciding it was time for another drink, she pushed away from the railing and headed for the stairs, Stephanie trailing behind her like a dutiful puppy. "The point," she called over her shoulder, warming more and more to what was yet to happen. "Is that Annie still trusts me and won't realize her mistake until it's too late."

"This is going to be so epic," Stephanie whispered with glee, skillfully descending the stairs despite her four and a half inch heels. Naomi grudgingly gave her kudos.

"You remember what you have to do, right?" she asked, after giving Mr. GQ behind the bar her order.

"Of course."

"I'm serious, Stephanie," Naomi insisted. "If you screw up the timing it will be disastrous."

"I won't let you down," she vowed. "I swear. I won't. I'm not like them."

Naomi blinked, Stephanie's sincerity was so palpable she was momentarily caught off guard. Maybe she'd have to rethink dropping her. Her drink was ready, so she took the tall glass and brought it to her lips, the alcohol barely registering now. "Right. I know. You understand loyalty."

"That's right," Stephanie smirked and glanced over her shoulder toward Annie and Liam's table. The grin grew to something almost predatory when she turned back and raised her martini glass. "To the Girl Code."

Naomi couldn't help smiling back as she nodded and clinked her glass, before taking another huge gulp. "The Girl Code."

* * *

Much to her surprise, aside from the first intense moments with Naomi when they'd first arrived, Annie was actually having a really good time. Immediately, she and Liam had stopped at the bar and then claimed seats at a table with Silver and Teddy. They hadn't moved since and the combination of easy conversation and alcohol had unwound the knots of tension between her shoulder blades. At some point, she'd kicked off her shoes and curled her legs beneath her in the padded deck chair - quite the feat considering the length of her skirt. Liam sat beside her, his arm stretched out on the armrest, fingers casually entwined with hers. Annie rested her head against the fluffy cushion and studied him. Liam wasn't looking at her, laughing instead at something Silver was saying, but the way his thumb brushed deliberately over the back of her hand put her at ease. In that moment, it was hard to drum up the anxiety she'd walked through the door with.

"No, seriously," Silver was saying, setting her drink on the table with a clumsy clatter and gripping the edge of the glass top. Leaning down, she locked her eyes on the flower arrangement, particularly the large photo of Naomi's face at the heart of it. Her blue eyes went wide. "Try it. It's like she's watching us."

"No thanks, crazy," Liam laughed. "I'd rather she just kept her eyes on you and left me alone."

"This is so trippy," the brunette insisted, ignoring him.

Liam raised a brow at Teddy and gestured toward her empty martini glass. "How many of those things has she had?"

"Five," Silver held up her hand, fingers splayed, but didn't look away from the mesmerizing Naomi display.

"Five, apparently," Teddy shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

"Stop being snobs," she lifted her head and pursed her lips at both Liam and her boyfriend. "They're really good."

"Yeah, I don't think I need to…_drink _Naomi," Teddy pointed out, eyeing the glowing blue concoction named for the birthday girl suspiciously. Taking a drink from his beer for good measure he assured his girlfriend. "I'll take your word for it."

"Whatever," Silver mumbled with an exaggerated sigh. She leaned back in her chair, then realized a split second later that her glass was empty and leapt clumsily to her feet. "To the bar!"

Next to her, Annie could feel Liam's shoulders shaking with laugher. Teddy rose good-naturedly to his feet and steadied his girlfriend. Bending down to look her in the eye he asked. "Don't you think maybe five is enough for now?"

Silver pretended to think about it, glancing surreptitiously at Annie and winking. Heaving a sigh that testified to just how taxing she found this suggestion she narrowed her eyes. "I suppose water this round might be a good idea."

"Good girl," Teddy approved and took Silver's elbow to guide her away from the edge of the pool.

"We'll be right back!" she promised, twisting so abruptly, she nearly toppled into the water. Annie had been doing a decent job of not outright guffawing at her friend, but with that last move the giggles erupted from her lips and she buried her face against Liam's shoulder. For his part, Liam didn't even attempt to hold back the laughter.

"I have never seen her that wasted before," he managed after a few moments. "She should do it more often. She's a hell of a lot more fun."

"You're so mean," Annie teased, lifting her head and brushing a few loose tendrils of hair out of her eyes. "Still think we shouldn't have come?"

Liam's easy smile didn't falter. "There's still time for everything to go to hell, but so far…it hasn't been too bad."

"Wow," she replied with exaggerated awe. "For you that's like a rave review."

"Yeah, well, during those first few minutes it was pretty touch and go," he admitted, shifting in the chair but keeping his solid grip on her hand. Annie couldn't argue. The run in on the first day of school had been bad enough, but arriving at Naomi's house for her party had reached new levels of awkward. Despite their host's perfect smile and ingratiating greeting, Annie had felt the tension coming off her in waves when she'd pulled her into a hug.

"What about you?" he asked. "Are you having a good time?"

"Actually, I am," she said, unable to keep the corners of her lips from curving upward. "How can I not be? It's a beautiful night and I'm a great party with my best friends and my boyfriend _actually_ seems to be having a good time. It's like the best night ever."

To punctuate her statement, she grabbed her own half full martini glass of glowing blue liquid and raised it in a mock toast before draining it. Holding up one finger she added. "That was only one, by the way."

Liam acknowledged that with a silent chuckle. Regarding her steadily for a moment, he said."I want to taste it."

"Seriously?" Annie raised a brow and climbed to her feet to head to the bar. "It has a distinct _skittl_e taste to it."

"That's not what I mean," he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her to his lap. She only protested slightly, mindful of her hemline.

"What are you doing?" she cried, bracing her hands on his shoulders, her fingers curling into the soft black fabric of his shirt.

"I told you. I want to taste it," he said again and slipped a hand behind her head, gently tugging her closer. A split second before their lips met she understood and the insistent pressure of his tongue had her opening her mouth to him without hesitation. The noise of the party faded into the background as Annie was caught up in the kiss. Liam tasted her thoroughly and when he finally released her, she sat for a few moments, clutching his shirt and trying to collect her thoughts.

"So, um, what do-what do you think?" she murmured, their faces still so close she could feel his breath on her lips.

"I'm not sure," he replied, running his thumb over her lips. "I think I need another taste."

Annie's heart fluttered at the implication, but she managed to pull away. "Then I need a refill."

"I'll come with you," he offered and let her climb off his lap.

"No, I'll be okay. Someone's got to save the table," she waved a hand and glanced toward the bar. The one just inside the house was closer than the one on the other end of the pool where Silver and Teddy were. "If someone took it, Silver would be pissed and probably push you in the pool."

"I'd love to see her try."

"I'll be back in a second," she promised, making a mental note of his beer of choice that evening so she could get him another one. Annie felt the weight of Liam's steady gaze as she began to weave her way through the crowd. It was reassuring, but as the night wore on their pact of solidarity was beginning to seem foolish. Naomi had barely wasted three minutes on them upon their arrival and Annie had only seen her sporadically outside by the pool. Whatever schemes the blond was concocting all seemed to revolve around her own enjoyment of the party rather than retribution for stolen boyfriends.

The throng at the door created a bottleneck and Annie had to push her way through. Without her shoes, most of her classmates towered over her and she crossed the threshold praying none of them would step on her bare toes. That would be just her luck. Show up at Naomi's party obviously trying to outdo the birthday girl and get a trip to the emergency room for her troubles.

Miraculously, she made it to the makeshift bar unscathed and asked for another one of the Naomi specials and a beer. Craning her neck, she tried to catch sight of Liam back at the table, but the crowd was too thick. Hopefully, Mr. Overprotective would keep his butt in the seat. Someone jostled into her and a very familiar voice uttered an obscenity at whoever caused it before offering Annie an immediate apology.

"Sorry, totally my bad," Ivy brushed her long, loose hair over her shoulder and looked at Annie for the first time. Her eyes widened as she took her in from head to toe. "Wow, Annie. Sorry. Again. Didn't recognize you there in that…dress."

Coming from anybody else, Ivy's hesitant and measured praise would have made her turn red with self-consciousness. Given that the surfer girl refused to cater to the West Bev fashion police and didn't know haute couture from a hole in the wall, Annie grinned and made sure the hem was covering more, rather than less of her legs. "Yeah, it's…not my usual style."

"But it looks good," Ivy quickly assured her. Smirking, she added. "I'm sure Liam likes it."

"No complaints so far," she agreed and this time, she knew she was blushing. So much for the new brazen and bold Annie Wilson. The bartender plunked her drinks on the counter and she grabbed the fresh martini glass, taking a grateful sip. After Ivy ordered, she changed the subject. "Are you having a good time?"

Ivy raised a brow at the electric blue alcohol in Annie's glass and shrugged. "I did enjoy seeing Naomi's eyes bug out of her head when she saw that I was Dixon's guest. I'm not sure who she thought he'd bring, but it definitely wasn't me."

"You two really aren't friends, are you," she noted. Most of her junior year was wrapped up in Jasper drama she'd just as soon forget, but Annie did have vague memories of the Ivy and Naomi wars.

"Nope," Ivy replied with no regrets before slamming back a shot of something dark that smelled faintly of licorice. Reeling from the strength of the alcohol, she added absently. "Which is ironic considering neither one of us actually ended up with Liam."

While the comment about the dress rolled easily off her back, the bitterness in Ivy's tone made Annie bristle. Silently, she sipped her drink and the other girl quickly realized her faux pas. Rolling her eyes heavenward, Ivy sighed. "Shit. Annie, that…I didn't mean that the bitchy way it sounded. God, I'm an idiot. I'm not…pining for Liam, okay? You know that, right? I really, really like Dixon. Even if he is being a completely baby about this no wheels thing."

"I believe you," Annie promised after a careful moment to make sure she really did. Naomi's murky motives were a headache on their own, she really didn't want to worry about Ivy, too. Besides, only someone who really cared about Dixon would spend time with him right now in his current state of perpetual whining.

"However," Ivy continued, holding up a finger and grinning mischievously. "I _am _bitchy enough to say I get total joy out of the fact that Liam dumped her ass for you."

"That's not exactly what happened," Annie quickly clarified, although Ivy's good humor was infectious. "I mean, yeah, Liam dumped her, but it wasn't _for _me. Not really."

"Close enough," the blond shrugged and gestured for two more shots from the bartender. Annie protested, but Ivy was adamant.

"My treat," she said with a wink and held up the shot in a toast. "Here's to beating the wench at her own game, even if she is telling everybody she dumped him."

Annie downed the shot, gagging at the overpowering flavor of licorice as it burned down her throat. Shuddering, she chased it with a huge gulp from her martini glass. After a moment she gasped."Naomi's saying what?"

"Oh, that she broke up with Liam, apparently," Ivy waved a hand as if she expected nothing less from their host. "I may not have been tight with Liam last spring, but I know he was getting sick of Naomi's lying and, well, more lying. For some reason the only thing this stupid school wants to talk about right now is you, Liam and Naomi."

Annie stared in surprise. The sudden influx of alcohol in her system made her a little light headed. She knew the rumor mills were churning with talk about her and Liam being together, but she had no idea it was kicking up so much old dirt. Ivy picked up her drinks and started to walk away with a casual wave goodbye. Annie followed, Liam's beer forgotten on the bar, condensation rolling down the brown bottle to pool beneath it.

"Ivy, wait," Annie nearly spilled her drink as she avoided the jostling bodies of her fellow party goers. The blond stopped long enough for her to catch up, her eyes wide and inquisitive. In all of one second, Annie caved to morbid curiosity. "What else are people saying?"

* * *

The second Annie stepped through the double doors into the house, Liam lost sight of her. Instinct nearly propelled him from the deck chair immediately, but common sense prevailed. Annie would kill him if he started treating her like something fragile in need of protection. Her promise to stick together had been for his benefit, he knew, and if he were honest, the whole idea of safety in numbers seemed utterly ridiculous at what was turning out to be a pretty tame party. So, rather than rush off to play misguided knight to a damsel who was probably not distressed, Liam took his time finishing his beer and watching his fellow classmates make drunken idiots out of themselves.

By the time his patience wore out – admittedly fifteen minutes later at the most – the bottle was empty and he was ready for a change of scenery. Or really, a change _back _to the scenery that was Annie in that sparkly little dress. Silver and Teddy still hadn't returned, but with luck he and Annie would be long gone by the time they came back. He wasn't sure how much time he was required to spend at his ex girlfriend's birthday party, but at this point he really didn't care. The desire to get Annie out of there and continue where they left off in her room outweighed the negligible social graces he possessed.

Weaving his way through the increasingly intoxicated crowds toward the bar, he acknowledged a deeper motivation for leaving. The notion pricked at his conscious, had been doing so for the past few days. Something was… not wrong with Annie, but different, off. He couldn't say exactly what stood out, but ever since the trial there'd been an intensity in the way she looked at him and touched him that hadn't been there before. Although outwardly she played it cool about being at Naomi's party, she'd been keyed up all night. Whether that was for his benefit or hers, he couldn't say. Ivy would have channeled her mother and said some nonsense about Annie's aura being the wrong color or something else new agey and weird. Liam didn't need it defined and he _really _didn't want to have some deep, meaningful conversation about it. All he wanted to do was find her and take her some place she could relax.

And if that involved no clothes and a whole lot of physical activity, he was more than happy to oblige.

When he finally reached the bar, Annie wasn't there and Liam felt a stab of anxiety. Doing his best to ignore it, he scanned the expansive living room and the landing above. The sun had long since set and the space was dark. His fellow partygoers were little more than shadows with few discernable features. Maneuvering his way back to the windows, he spotted Silver and Teddy still hanging around the other bar at the far end of the pool, but no sign of Annie.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath. Praying that his instincts were wrong, he reluctantly started the visual search again, this time for Naomi. As the seconds passed and he couldn't find the birthday girl either, his dread mounted. Resolving to search the whole house, he pushed through the crowd to the stairs. A hand on his arm stopped him.

"Liam!" the voice was urgent, feminine and as he turned around he saw it belonged to someone he vaguely recognized but had never spoken to before. The perfectly made up brunette's eyes were wide and concerned, but she spoke so quietly he had to lean down to hear her. "You need to hurry. Annie needs you."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded, immediately suspicious of this person he'd never met talking about Annie. "Who the hell are you?"

The brunette rolled her eyes and dragged him down the stairs. "That's so not important right now. You need to get to the back guest room if you want to stop your ex-girlfriend and your current girlfriend from bringing the cat fight of the decade out here and becoming the main attraction."

"You have got to be kidding me," he groaned, mostly to himself as he had already decided to take this mystery chick at her word and started down the darkened hallway. He'd rather find out he'd been punked than ignore the possibility that Annie and Naomi had dispensed with the niceties and decided to throw down.

Though his time living there was brief, the place wasn't so big he'd forgotten his way around. Dread gave way to irritation with both Naomi and Annie. All that ass-kissing and pretense of getting along and they couldn't get through a few hours at a stupid party without a fight? Okay, so he wasn't the picture of restraint or anything, but at least when he had a problem with someone he admitted it and didn't smile and pretend he wanted to go to their damn birthday. Half running down the dark hallway, he resolved that as soon as he found Annie, they were _definitely _getting the hell out of there.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Although Naomi's house was big it wasn't a palatial mansion with multiple wings and a maze of corridors. Liam made it down the darkened hallway in seconds, the noise of the party dwindling and giving way to something else. Light spilled through the crack of the only open door and he approached it with some trepidation. Instead of the screaming and name-calling he'd expected, a series of cat-calls and low whistles emanated from within. Did the girls have an audience? Everybody loved a good catfight and Naomi was famous for public displays of drama, but that wasn't Annie's style. Then again, maybe she'd hadn't had a choice. Wishing once again that he'd never agreed to attend the party, Liam swallowed the dread tempting him to hesitate further and pushed open the door.

"What the hell," he muttered. Five seconds was long enough to sweep the room, note the occupants and realize he'd been had. Annie was not in trouble there and probably never had been. The brunette he now remembered as the same one stuck to Naomi like glue on the first day of school had clearly sent him down here for one very specific purpose: to witness his ex-girlfriend's little floor show.

In most homes, the guest room would have been considered the master, big enough to fit a four poster, king size bed comfortably, not to mention the dresser and twin nightstands that went with it. The same plush, off-white carpet that covered the rest of the ground floor continued there, stained now with spilled beer and other alcohol from the glasses of a rowdy group of guys. Liam had never paid much attention to West Bev's football team, but if he had to guess, he figured most of the offensive line was assembled there, completely engrossed in the figure using the bed as her own personal stage.

Naomi's bright pink dress was draped around one lucky guy's neck like a beach towel. Clad only in her pink and black lacy bra and panties, she gyrated on the bed with a seductive skill that most strippers would have envied. The assembled jocks were so engrossed in the impromptu strip-tease they didn't even notice his presence. Liam rolled his eyes and sighed.

Months had passed since he'd broken up with her, but his first instinct was still to beat the shit out of every guy in the room and send them packing. Relief that Annie wasn't there, combined with equal parts irritation and curiosity overruled instinct and helped him keep his temper in check. The entire set up screamed Naomi, complete with an adoring flunky to reel him in so she didn't have to do it herself. Fine, he thought, if she wanted him there, he'd stay. Raising a brow, Liam crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, waiting for his ex to notice.

He didn't have to wait long. The second Naomi saw him, her seductive smile sharpened and she gazed at him through bedroom eyes glazed by alcohol. Running her hands down a body he knew very well, she turned her routine up a notch. Using one of the tall posters like a stripper pole, she wrapped a long, shapely leg around it and pressed her body flush against it. The show was completely for him, her focus unwavering despite his utter lack of response and the continued roars from the other guys. Their enthusiasm ratcheted up several notches as Naomi turned around and slid down to the mattress.

A lifetime ago, when he'd first arrived in Beverly Hills, a stunt like this would have wrecked him. He'd have already kicked the leering jocks out of the room and climbed up on that bed. The skimpy bra and panties would have joined his clothes on the floor in a matter of seconds. Stumbling upon her drunk and flaunting everything she had to someone other than him would have set off his temper and possessive streak in a heartbeat. Discovering it had all been a set up to get his attention would have pissed him off and that would have made the sex that much better. Naomi knew him then, understood that the games were necessary to keep him interested and picked up on what made him tick.

Liam wasn't always sure that his summer in the boonies had changed him for the better, but he had changed. Naomi was still gorgeous – he hadn't gone blind out in the woods – but while he'd outgrown the games and the scheming, she clearly hadn't noticed. She still couldn't be honest and admit she had a problem with him and Annie being together.

The minutes ticked away and Naomi's show continued with no signs of revealing her true purpose other than shooting him sultry glances between slit lids. A few of the football players had noticed him standing in the doorway, but didn't care as their cheers grew louder and more boisterous every second. With his patience wearing thin, Liam sighed and shook his head. Torn between wanting to flip on the lights, kick the guys out and demand Naomi tell him what the hell was going on and just walking away, he chose the latter when one of the guys leapt up on the bed and his ex girlfriend didn't even flinch.

"Whatever," he muttered with disgust and turned to leave Naomi to her games. If she had something to say to him, she could do it fully clothed and without an audience of frat boys in the making. Halfway out the door, however, he heard a soft, feminine cry that on reflex had him looking back into the dimly lit room.

The guy who'd joined her on the bed hadn't been content with simply sharing the spotlight. His plans were much more specific and they began with wrapping a clumsy, beefy arm around Naomi's bare waist. The move threw her off balance and her feet got tangled in the messy silk sheets, forcing her to crash into his broad chest. She looked frantically at Liam, all pretense of seduction replaced with terror so intense her mouth opened on a silent cry for help. Naomi was a good actress, but this fear was real and evidently not part of the plan.

Wasting no time, Liam pushed the dimmer switch all the way up, blinding himself and the other occupants in the room with the sudden brightness. A six pack closer to sober than the football players, he recovered a lot faster and before they knew what was happening started dragging them out of the room by the collars of their preppy polo shirts. Naomi had recovered enough to push her unwelcome co-star away. Momentum had him tumbling off the foot of the bed and sprawling in a heap on the ruined carpet.

"What the fuck?" he mumbled, words slurred by alcohol. The he noticed Liam and his face contorted into an ugly mask.

"Dude, don't make me hit you," Liam said wearily when the fallen football player clambered to his feet. Sober enough to have his pride wounded, the bigger guy glared at him menacingly and took a lurching step forward. "Come on, man. I just saved your parents the shit load of money they would have spent on defense attorneys for your date rape charge."

His words had little effect on the football player and Liam's hands automatically curled into fists at his side. The last time he'd been in a fight had been under the pier with Jasper, before that when he decked Jeffery after he caught him with the blond. Based on the outcome of those two clashes, he was batting about .500, although Jasper had stacked the deck against him with that gun. Still, he had no intention of losing a fight to an overgrown, trust fund jock.

Luckily for the football player, his friends intervened. Through the beer haze, recognition dawned and their eyes went wide. Two of them grabbed Naomi's unwanted dance partner by the arms, right as he reared back and prepped for the first punch.

"Kyle, don't be stupid," one of them hissed.

"Yeah, don't you know who that is?" the other added. They both shot wary glances at Liam, suddenly in the neighborhood of sober. "That's Liam Court."

Together they half walked, half dragged Kyle out of the room and continued their hushed conversation about how Liam "like, killed a dude in a gang war" and had the scars to prove it. Liam rolled his eyes, amused and embarrassed at the reputation he'd unwittingly gained over the summer. It seemed to take forever for the room to clear and by the time he was alone with Naomi he'd nearly forgotten she was there.

He turned to find her huddled at the foot of the bed, leaning against the poster with her knees pulled up to her chest. A curtain of blond hair shielded her face, but from the way her shoulders trembled Liam guessed she was crying. Torn between concern and a keen desire to wash his hands of the whole night, he lingered in the middle of the room. Finally, he sighed, picked up the discarded dress and held it out to her. "Naomi? Are you alright?"

She started at the sound of his voice and raised her head wearing a bewildered expression. When her gaze fell on him, she frowned for a second, confused. Recognition dawned slowly and she took in the room as a whole before squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head.

"Jesus, how drunk are you?" he murmured, stepping closer and crouching slightly to get a better look at her face.

"Oh, my god, thank you," Naomi cried in a rush, launching herself bodily at him and throwing her arms around his neck. Somehow, Liam managed to keep his balance even as he careened backward several steps and dropped the dress to the floor. Automatically, his arms wrapped around her bare waist as she clung to him.

"Hey, it's…it's okay," he said awkwardly, very conscious of his hands on her nearly naked flesh.

Naomi released her grip only to swipe at the tears and mascara tracking down her cheeks. "I don't know what I would have done without you. How did you know to where to find me?"

"You know exactly how I knew," he replied through narrowed eyes. Naomi was practically standing on his shoes, she was so close. The heat from her bare skin bled through his shirt. The longer he held her, the more uncomfortable he became. Then she smiled, that slow, seductive curving of her lips that he'd learned not to trust. Whatever real emotion he'd seen when Kyle had touched her was gone and once again he knew he was being played. Her hands snaked back around his neck and long fingers sank into his hair.

"You're right. I do," she whispered. And then she kissed him.

* * *

Annie's head was buzzing when she came away from her conversation with Ivy and not just from the two additional shots she'd had while they talked. The rumor mill of West Beverly High refused to veer off its course. Three full days into the school year and she, Liam and Naomi were still the only thing on people's minds and tongues. Dozens of different stories had spread through the student population, some true, some half true and some so completely ridiculous Annie had burst out laughing.

Naomi had obviously done her best to fan the flames in her favor, not only claiming she'd been the one to end her relationship with Liam but also adding the idea that she'd somehow given the new couple her blessing as an extra benevolent touch. Predictably, some circles had painted Annie as a homewrecker who deliberately set out to steal yet another boyfriend from the best friend who'd so generously forgiven her after Ethan.

Others weren't so kind. Annie was fairly certain Naomi wouldn't have started the rumor that Liam breaking up with her had sent her on a drug fueled bender culminating in an overdose and a summer long stint at the same rehab facility as Lindsay Lohan. Or the one, much closer to the truth, that Naomi had been cheating on him and Liam caught in her a lie about it. The cheating may have been fiction, but Naomi's inability to be straight with Liam was the number one reason he'd ended the relationship.

Stories about what really happened with Jasper were equally numerous and Annie was relieved that although they hit on the right details, none of them identified the right motivations. West Bev had no idea that she'd set the entire chain of events in motion by murdering Jasper's uncle in a drunken hit and run. As far as the students knew, Jasper had lost his mind when Annie broke up with him and blamed Liam. He'd spent the summer tormenting the couple and in the end he was either arrested for attempted murder and sent to Chino or he'd been killed in a bloody shootout on the Santa Monica Pier.

As Annie wove her way back to the patio through clusters of her peers she felt a surge of triumph over her ex. While stories swirled around her and Naomi, Liam remained basically unscathed. Even when Annie pressed, Ivy couldn't deliver much. But it what _wasn't _there bolstered Annie's confidence exponentially.

"But what about Liam?" Annie had asked, shaking her head at the mental image of Naomi and LaLohan doing arts and crafts with Dr. Drew presiding over them. They'd been sitting on deep brown leather couches flanking a glass topped coffee table. Dixon and Navid had resumed their traveling game of quarters, oblivious to the gossiping girls.

"What do you mean?" Ivy had shrugged and looked at her blankly.

"What's being said about him?" she had pressed.

"Nothing… really."

"Come on," she had persisted. "All these stories about Naomi and I and no one says anything about Liam?"

"Um…well, he's…a _guy_," Ivy had said a snort.

Annie had laughed. "And that means?"

"It means he's being congratulated for scoring two of the hottest chicks at West Bev," Ivy had rolled her eyes and pointed a finger toward her open mouth in a gagging gesture. "Oh, and the fact that you're the principal's daughter and he's the resident bad boy hasn't escaped them, either."

"Former principal," Annie had pointed out, but she could feel her face turning red in a flattered blush.

"Doesn't matter," Ivy had insisted. "The only thing that would make it better is if you were a virginal minister's daughter or something. Oh! And…there's all this talk about him surviving a gang war like he's some kind of urban legend badass. It's ridiculous."

Annie had laughed again and sipped her drink, almost content to let matters rest. Being dubbed one of the 'hottest chicks' at her high school should have been enough to pull her out from beneath the crippling weight of Jasper's accusations, but the deepest part of her that had been affected the most had to know. "Is…is that it?"

Ivy had shrugged. "Ah, yeah, pretty much. Why…are you looking for something specific?"

"N-not really," Annie had stammered, flushing a deeper shade of red. "I just…well, I thought some people might be surprised Liam would go from…someone like Naomi to someone like…me."

"I don't follow," Ivy had said with a blank expression.

Annie had sighed and forced the words past her lips, trying to keep her voice from carrying to Dixon, Navid or any of the other party goers within earshot. "Naomi's got a certain reputation that I definitely don't have."

"Oh…Oh!" Ivy's eyes had widened as she finally caught on. "I get. I get. But no. I haven't heard anything like that. But even if it was out there, who cares? Liam's totally in love with you. Anybody who sees the two of you together…it's just…so obvious."

Obvious, Annie thought now with an ever widening grin, slipping through a tiny space between bodies and emerging outside by the pool. Liam obviously loved her. People knew it and weren't questioning it. She was beginning to believe that Jasper's poisonous words were just that. Empty, meaningless words.

Instead of the five minutes she should have taken to get fresh drinks, she'd been gone at least twenty, possibly more. The clean lines of the modern deck chair were empty. Disappointed, but not surprised, she set the drinks on the glass table and scanned the crowd. Liam must have gotten tired of waiting for her and abandoned their spot, no matter what Silver might say. The party had reached its peak and very few people remained seated on the sidelines. The chlorinated water of the pool churned as couples played chicken. A group of girls sat on the artfully tiled edge, dangling their feet in the water, but unwilling to get their expensive bathing suits wet. Predictably a group of guys were doing their best to splash half the volume of the pool on them. Those not swimming milled about from cluster to cluster, wanting to see and be seen. To varying degrees, everybody was drinking, some handling their liquor better than others.

The roughhousing boys made their way to Annie's side of the pool, splashing a deluge of water over the lip of the tiled edge. Most made it no further than the tips of her toes, but some sailed through the air and splashed on her dress and bare legs. Flinching in surprise as the cool liquid hit her skin, she gasped and automatically brushed it away. Dark spots appeared on her dress where the water soaked in and Annie stared at it as if she'd never really seen it before.

"What am I doing?" she murmured quietly, fingering the tiny ruffle at the hem of the ridiculous short skirt. A giggle erupted from her throat. "I don't even like this dress."

Her stubborn brain wasted no time in reminding her exactly why she'd worn the dress and the shoes, not just at this party, but the earthquake one as well. Why she'd had more to drink in the past week than she'd had in over a year. Why she'd been constantly on edge and couldn't relax, even when Liam was right there next to her. Rolling her eyes heavenward, she expelled a sharp breath. This had to end. Tonight while she was still bolstered by her conversation with Ivy. It had only been four days since the courthouse, but for Annie it might as well have been a lifetime. The pressure of constantly trying to prove the world wrong was going to make her crack and if Liam hadn't already noticed he'd catch on quick as her grip on her tumultuous emotions weakened.

"I just need to tell him," she decided with a decisive nod. Despite the ego boost and the alcohol the notion terrified her, but deep down she knew she should have come clean right away. Liam had nearly lost his life protecting her from Jasper. As much as she wanted to return the favor, he wouldn't appreciate it. The truth was far too corrosive to carry alone. Amazing how in her alcohol fueled soul searching she was able to see things more clearly than in the harsh, sober light of day.

The matching silver heels she'd bought for the occasion were still underneath the chair where she'd left them. Unlike the dress, she really loved the shoes, but now was not the time to strap on a pair of five inch stilettos and attempt to weave her way through the rambunctious crowd. Naomi's home wasn't big enough to get lost in, but finding Liam amidst the throng wouldn't be easy.

She fought her way around the pool, first, scanning every face and searching behind every deck chair. Silver and Teddy were nowhere to be found either, but she wasn't worried about them. Pushing through the congestion at the open door into the house was a challenge, but she managed to get inside without any bloodshed. For a second, she let her eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting as she debated where to go next. Before she could decide, someone blocked her path.

"Annie! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Annie started at the very familiar greeting from the only vaguely familiar brunette standing before her. Stephanie something her brain supplied. They had calculus together, 4th period. "Y-you have?"

"Yeah, Liam was looking for you. I told him I'd help," Stephanie supplied with an liquor colored smile that shone just a shade too bright.

"Oh…okay," Annie replied dumbly, her brain struggling to assess facts thrown at her in too rapid succession. "Where is he?"

"A few minutes ago, he was headed down that hallway," she said, indicating with a thumb over her shoulder. The entrance to a darkened hallway yawned just behind and beneath the stairs. Although the space was unblocked, nobody seemed interested in taking their slice of the party into its depths. Annie raised a brow.

"Seriously?"

"Totally," Stephanie returned with a slight hint of indignation.

"Okay," Annie said again, painting on a diplomatic smile. Nodding to Stephanie as she skirted past and made her way toward the hallway. The darkness was thick and empty, illuminated only at the end where a sliver of light spilled onto plush cream carpeting. Although the girl had no reason to lie, Annie doubted Stephanie's story. Nonetheless, she made her way silently, her shoes dangling loosely from her fingertips.

A scant few feet from the door she finally heard voices, but she had to creep closer to make out the words. Instantly, she recognized Liam's and was about to push open the door without so much as a knock when the indistinct sounds finally took shape.

"Hey, it's…it's okay," Liam said in the same quiet tone he used when she was upset and he had no idea why. Her brain fired off a warning and she paused, her hand on the doorknob.

"I don't know what I would have done without you. How did you know to where to find me?" Annie's stomach flipped and sank when she recognized Naomi's voice. Suddenly frozen in place, she forgot about the party and about telling Liam the truth. Helplessly, she peered through the crack in the door, feeling like a character in a movie. She had the distinct sensation of watching helplessly from afar as a girl who looked a lot like her ventured toward certain doom. No amount of wishing could keep her from going forward.

"You know exactly how I knew," Liam replied. If Annie could have heard over the rushing blood in her ears, she might have picked up the steely edge in his words, but rational thought couldn't compete with the sickening clarity of the scene she saw before her. Jasper's prophecy echoed in her head, squelching the confidence she'd so recently acquired.

Liam stood with his back to her, fully clothed, his arms wrapped around a practically naked Naomi. Only the black lace accents kept the pale pink of her undergarments from blending in completely with her skin. Despite all the times Annie had driven herself crazy with nightmarish fantasies of Liam and Naomi the actual sight of them together in an embrace was so painful it took her breath away. She wanted to do something, look away, bust into the room and demand an explanation or run like hell and hide, but all she could do was stare and wait for whatever came next. She didn't have to wait long.

"You're right. I do," Naomi said, the whisper just barely carrying across the room. Annie's heart almost beat out of her chest while she watched as the nearly naked blond sank her fingers into Liam's hair, brought her lips to his and shattered her world.

* * *

Silver sucked water through a delicate red stir straw as greedily as she'd gulped down the five neon blue cocktails named after her former best friend. Already, her alcohol buzz was fading and the self-recriminations had begun. Turning toward Teddy, she demanded. "Why did you let me do that?"

"What?" Teddy asked with a frown, taking a moderate sip of his second beer. "Drink?"

"Yes," she scowled at her empty water glass and gestured to the bartender for another. "You know how I get."

"Silver, you don't _get _any way," her boyfriend did his best not to laugh. "You on alcohol isn't that much different from you sober."

"I shouldn't be doing it at all," she muttered, attacking her third glass of water.

"You're not your mom," Teddy whispered, gently tugging the straw from between her lips.

Silver's shoulders sagged and she gave him a guilty, sideways glance. He knew her too well. Despite having the best excuse in the world to be anti-booze, Silver didn't want to be the sober girl in the corner standing aloof while her friends partied it up. She _liked _drinking on occasion, she even liked the taste of alcohol and she definitely needed to relax now and then. But every time she drank past a nice buzz she relived all the horrible memories of her mother's out of control binges. Nothing terrified her more than unwittingly becoming _that _person, the one who embarrassed everybody around her without having the slightest clue.

"I know," she said quietly, fighting the urge to bring the straw back to her lips. "I know I'm not. I just need you to remind me sometimes."

"You know I will," he assured her, draping his arm across the bar behind her, his warm skin brushing against her bare shoulder blades. She leaned into him and gazed thoughtfully around the patio.

"I don't think I should have come," Silver murmured. Her qualms about the party may have been proven false, but she just didn't feel comfortable there anymore. Dissecting Naomi's every move for hidden motives was as exhausting as it was pointless.

"It's been a nice night," Teddy disagreed, rubbing her arm absently as he mirrored her pose and took in the festive decorations and ever more boisterous crowd. "Nothing bad has happened."

"I know, but I don't trust Naomi anymore," she replied helplessly. Turning to him, she studied his profile and tried to make him understand. "I never will. Even though she didn't do anything tonight I'm always going to suspect her. What kind of friendship is that?"

"Is this really because of Naomi or do you think you owe it to Annie?" Teddy asked.

Silver blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Naomi apologized for ditching you over the summer, right?" At her nod, he shrugged and continued. "Do you not believe her or is this some sort of guilt trip you've put yourself on because of the way you think you abandoned Annie last year?"

Silver stared at him, caught between the urge to hit him or curl up at his side, bury her face against his bright blue button down and cry. Squeezing her eyes shut, she abandoned the straw and took three huge gulps from her glass, draining what was left. "I am still too drunk to think that deeply. Bartender? Let's try that one more time."

With a smirk, the gorgeous college student behind the bar refreshed her glass and gave her another straw. Next to her, Teddy was shaking his head and chuckling softly. Hit him, she decided. Definitely.

But she never got the chance. All of a sudden Annie appeared, barefoot, her shoes clutched so tightly in her hand the knuckles were white. All the color from her summer tan seemed to have been sapped from her pretty face. Silver's heart lurched. "Annie. What's wrong?"

"Can you take me home?" her friend asked in a small, tight voice. "Please."

Silver glanced quickly at Teddy, who straightened and pulled his attention away from people watching. "Yeah. Yeah, of course we can. Where's Liam?"

"He's…he's busy," she replied evenly, but her eyes filled with tears and she blinked furiously in the dim light. "He won't even notice I'm gone."

"Annie, I think he'll probably notice if his girlfriend disappears without telling him," Teddy assured her with a frown.

"Please," she cut in, grabbing Silver's wrist with the same ferocity as she clutched the shoe straps, hard enough to bruise. Her deep brown eyes were full of pain and humiliation as she pleaded. "Please, let's just go."

"But-."

"He's with Naomi!"

Silver nearly dropped her glass as she stared dumbly, blue eyes wide. She didn't need to ask for clarification as to just how Liam was with Naomi. Not from the way Annie's lip trembled and she dashed angrily at the few tears that leaked from the corner of her eye. Of all the potential catastrophes she had imagined for this night, Liam shaking up with his ex hadn't even registered. Even with Annie saying it out loud, Silver just couldn't wrap her mind around it. A dozen questions flitted through her brain. She opened her mouth to ask her friend if she was certain, but thought better of it.

"Okay, we'll go," she shot Teddy a look and he nodded. Wistfully, Silver put her full glass of water on the bar, slipped a steadying arm around Annie's waist and prayed she was sober enough to handle whatever came next.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: I'm very aware - and annoyed - that I haven't been able to update WWYRT as often as CYSM, but I was on track to have this posted within a week of Chapter 10 and then I got sick and it threw me off completely. So, my sincere apologies for this even more ridiculously late than usual update. I hope it was worth the wait. I'm actually very anxious to hear if it was. ;p

Chapter 11

For someone smaller and far more intoxicated, Naomi's grip on Liam was ironclad. She pressed her lips to his, oblivious to the lack of response. Or maybe she just didn't care. Liam was too busy cursing his stupidity at that point to worry much about the why. Somehow, he'd been surprised by the kiss, even though the move – the entire set up – had been classic Naomi. That flash of fear and disorientation had been real and he'd allowed his curiosity to overrule his instincts. Shaking off the shock, he reached for the hands locked behind his head and pulled away.

"Naomi, stop," he managed before his determined ex captured his mouth yet again. Prying her fingers apart took more effort than he expected. Finally, he gave up on being gentle and clamped his hands around her thin wrists and tugged. "Seriously. Naomi. This is not gonna happen."

"Oh come on," she purred, gazing up at him, her eyes lazy slits as her lips curved seductively. "You must be dying for someone to give you what you need. Annie sure as hell wouldn't know what to do with a guy like you."

"God, you just can't quit the games, can you," he accused, not waiting for her response as his precarious grip on his temper faltered. "Playing nice at school, the invite to the party, all of it was just a lie to fuck with Annie again."

"No, Liam, Annie's definitely not the one I want to fuck," Naomi teased, leaning in for another kiss. Still holding her wrists, he took an abrupt step back and let go. Without his body to support her, his ex crumpled to the carpeted floor in an ungraceful heap.

"I knew you would do this," he muttered, more disgusted with himself than anything else. Traces of sticky lip gloss clung to his mouth and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. "I fucking _knew _your promise to leave Annie alone was bullshit."

Naomi scoffed from her spot on the floor. "Then why'd you come tonight?"

"Because Annie wanted to. She believed there was a chance you weren't being a manipulative bitch," he ground out through clenched teeth.

An electric silence fell upon the room, magnifying the sounds of his labored breathing and the thunderous beat of his heart. Then Naomi raised her head, eyes red she offered him a scathing, mirthless smile. "Her mistake."

Liam choked back his rage. "I knew you'd never change."

"Change? I need to change? She stole my boyfriend. Again," Naomi cried indignantly, fire coloring her voice even if it didn't reach her eyes.

"Annie didn't steal anything," Liam vowed, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. The confrontation had been on the horizon, taunting him, since the second he kissed Annie that night on the beach. If their relationship had any hope of survival, there was no escaping it. Naomi would never like it, but she had to accept it. "You lost me a long time ago with all your lies and manipulation-."

"My lies? My manipulation?" Naomi clambered to her feet and advanced on him, letting the full power of her anger shine. "What about you? I know you were spending time with her behind my back. How many times did you confide in her when you should have been confiding in me? Don't try to tell me nothing happened until we broke up."

"Nothing did," he replied, all the more vehement because he knew it wasn't entirely the truth. "I worked my ass off to get you back. I changed-."

"Oh, that's right, you changed. Liam Court had a fucking epiphany in the forest and came back with a halo," Naomi scoffed and rolled her eyes, on a roll now and unwilling to let him speak until she'd said her piece. "Well, good for you. I'm sorry I didn't have one, too. I'm sorry I'm still a bitch and a liar and not perfect like you and your precious Annie. But mostly I'm sorry you broke up with me and I went to that party alone. Maybe if you'd been there I wouldn't have been raped!"

As soon as the words passed her lips, Naomi's diatribe abruptly ended and she sucked in a gasp of shock. The self-serving rant had flowed over Liam, half heard like so many others until the end. The angry rush of blood in his veins froze instantly and he stared at her. Hard. "What did you just say?"

"N-nothing," she stammered, dropping her gaze and turning away. Eventually, halting steps brought her back to the four poster bed. Curling her hand around the post, she sank slowly to the mattress, grabbing the bedraggled satin comforter and pulling it over her lap.

"I don't think it is," he disagreed, crossing his arms and warily drawing closer. The flash of fear, the disorientation that was more than too much alcohol fell sickeningly into place. "I think if it were nothing you wouldn't be afraid to say it."

"You're not going to believe me anyway, so why bother? All I do is play games, right?" Naomi challenged him now with a hint of her former indignation. "I lied about Cannon sexually harassing me, so there's no way I could be telling the truth about him raping me the night of the Pass the Torch party."

Liam closed his eyes as all the air left his lungs. Words utterly failed him. Part of him stubbornly refused to believe her, but the pieces continued to fall into place. Naomi's generic Facebook post declaring her sudden trip to Europe had gone up the day after the party. Only something truly catastrophic would have brought the Clark sisters back together for coffee, let alone an entire summer overseas. When Kyle leapt onto the bed and touched her she'd been truly afraid. Hell, just the fact that he had to pry the story out of her spoke toward its truth.

If he hadn't broken up with her that day, he would have been there. "Jesus Christ."

"No one knows," Naomi said, clutching the comforter so tightly her knuckles were white. "You can't tell anyone."

"What happened?" he asked automatically, not caring at the moment if he had a right to know or not.

She squeezed her eyes shut and for a second Liam thought she wouldn't answer. Then her shoulders slumped and he had to listen closely to hear. "I didn't have a ride home. Silver and Teddy made up, so I went into the school to find a phone because my cell died. Mr. Cannon…he was there working on…on his film."

She told the story using simple words, each one laced with pain. There was no elaboration, no dramatics and by the time she reached the part where Cannon closed the blinds and pointed out all the reasons no one would ever believe her if she talked, Liam's doubts were gone. His anger disappeared and he momentarily forgot Annie as numbness swept over him. The sheer enormity of Naomi's confession contrasted starkly with the blunt, unvarnished truth. "When he was done, I left."

He said nothing and silence filled the room while self-recrimination filled his head. What had he been doing while Cannon had Naomi trapped in his office? What had been more important than protecting his girlfriend from a man who was ironically everything she'd falsely accused him of being? Even as the thought spiraled accusingly through his head, pummeling his guilty conscience, he felt like a hypocrite. He knew exactly what he'd been doing that night and Naomi hadn't been his girlfriend anymore. If he hadn't been holding Annie while she cried out the truth about the hit and run he'd probably be at a military school in Maine right now, dreaming about a girl he'd almost had the chance to love. He couldn't regret it if he wanted to, but Naomi had still paid the price.

He wanted to ask why she hadn't gone to the police, but the question was stupid. He knew why, just like he now understood why she'd moved back in with her sister. "Jen knows, doesn't she."

Naomi nodded, brushing away tears that fell despite her detachment. "She is-was the only one."

"You gotta go to the cops," he insisted regardless of the futility of the statement. He couldn't help it. Cannon shouldn't be roaming free at West Bev, making Naomi's life hell with his very presence and probably picking out his next victim. Anger surged back to the surface. "You were right. That guy's a monster."

"No," Naomi protested vehemently. For the first time since she began her story, she looked directly at him. Determination flashed dully beneath the raw pain in her eyes. "There's no point. No one would believe me."

"I believe you!" he cried, although he knew that wouldn't matter. He'd backed her on the sexual harassment charge, too. Even without that misguided defense, his word wasn't worth much to anyone in a position of authority.

"Liam, no!" she cried, rising from the bed and crossing the room. She wrapped her arms tightly around her trembling body. He didn't know if it was due to cold or emotion. "I have no proof. It's my word against his and I just want to put it behind me. So just…just go. Forget any of this ever happened. I'm sorry I dragged you down here."

Liam didn't want to go, he wanted to argue with her until she gave in and set the cops after Cannon, but he knew she was right. Perhaps better than anybody else, he understood how blind justice really was. Telling him had nearly sent her into hysterics and he was…well, _friend _wasn't the right word, but at least she knew him. Forcing her to tell her story again and again to countless strangers felt more like punishment than help.

Overwhelmed and useless, he looked around the room and sighed heavily, trying to expel the tightness in his chest. A flash of pink caught his eye. Her dress was in a crumpled ball at the foot of the bed, discarded by the football player who'd draped it over his shoulders like a medal. Silently, he picked it up and held it out to her. As she hesitantly took it, he asked. "Why did you?"

"I wanted you back," she replied with a self-deprecating smile to offset the flush of humiliation that flushed her skin. "I convinced myself if I made everything like it was before the rape, I could be that girl again. But that's not happening, is it."

Naomi didn't phrase it as a question, but a tiny spark of hope within it shredded Liam and made him wish he could tell her otherwise. "No, it's not."

She nodded, clutching the dress to her chest as she stared at the floor. Conceding defeat, he moved to the door. Hand on the knob he paused and offered her the only thing he could. "I'll keep your secret. I won't tell anybody."

"Thank you," she murmured, glancing at him briefly as he left the ransacked guestroom. The hallway had felt miles long when he rushed down it an hour ago. Now he came to the end far too quickly. The frivolity of the party was magnified by what he'd learned and seemed so much more ridiculous. He wanted to find Annie and get the hell out of there.

Pushing his way through the oblivious crowd, Liam wrestled with the realization that he was going to willfully lie to his girlfriend. Granted at the moment, Naomi's rape wasn't the only thing he was keeping from Annie. He still hadn't found a good time to mention the grand he'd pocketed from the street race the other night. She'd been busy with her internship and a 'hey, by the way, I returned to my old ways and won a thousand bucks in an illegal race' between classes hadn't felt right. For reasons he couldn't quite explain, he was nervous about coming clean to Annie. He knew how she felt about the guy he was when he first came to Beverly Hills and reminding her of it didn't seem like a brilliant plan.

Searching the house and the outdoor pool area didn't take long. Annie, and for that matter Silver and Teddy, were nowhere to be found. Liam pulled his cell out of his back pocket. Annie's phone went straight to voice mail and he ended the call without leaving a message. Just when he thought the night couldn't possibly suck any harder. He caught sight of Ivy by the low, leather couches and made his way to her.

"Hey, have you seen Annie?" he asked without greeting the second he was within earshot.

"Well, hello to you, too," she raised a brow. Something in his expression kept her from harassing him further. She shrugged. "Yeah, I saw her. Like, an hour ago. We hung out for a minute and then she went to look for you, I thought."

"Yeah, and I must have been looking for her," he muttered, scanning the crowd for the fifth time and bringing his cell to his ear. The brunette who'd fed him the bullshit story about Annie and Naomi fighting ducked into the shadows leading to the back bedrooms. Liam frowned, as she disappeared from sight. A thought nagged at him, begging him to make a connection, but it faded away when Annie's phone went straight to voicemail yet again. This time, he left a message. "Hey, it's me…"

* * *

For a long time after Liam left, Naomi sat huddled on the edge of bed, forehead resting against knees drawn tight to her chest. Confessing the truth had shredded the defenses she'd so proudly and intricately constructed, leaving her raw and exposed in a way she hadn't been since the rape. She still didn't know what had compelled her to tell Liam of all people her secret and her brain hurt from trying to figure it out. She couldn't even contemplate the notion that he wouldn't keep her secret. He had to. If anyone found out… she shuddered at the thought.

Gradually, awareness extended beyond the confines of Naomi's mind. The slippery satin of the rumpled sheets were cold against her bare skin. Sounds from the party drifted down the darkened hallway and her ears pricked at the indistinct cacophony of voices. Blinking in the bright light, she raised her head and looked around. How long had she been there? Hours, probably, taking into account the time it took to assemble her audience, lure Liam to the guest room and completely ruin her carefully laid plans in one giant rush of fear and desperation. Groaning, she brought her hands to her face, surprised to find them wet with tears she hadn't known she'd shed.

The dress she'd so seductively stripped from her body was crumpled in a ball now on the bed next to her hip. Absently, she grabbed it as she gingerly put her feet on the thick carpet and stood on legs made of rubber. Naomi couldn't remember the last time she'd felt self-conscious in her own skin. Underwear covered just as much as a bathing suit, after all. Now, she was in such a hurry to get dressed, she nearly ran into a wall and earned a black eye on top of copious humiliation. With painstaking effort, she slowed down enough to get the sheath dress over her head. The hem ended an inch shy of mid-thigh and she had the unfamiliar desire to tug it past her knees.

On autopilot now, Naomi stumbled into the bathroom and fumbled for the light switch. Soft, warm light – a near perfect imitation of natural; Jen had spared no expense, even in the guest room – reflected off shiny chrome and polished marble surfaces and wrapped around her. The cloying embrace made her gag. Naomi wanted cold. Soulless, empty ice that could stop her racing heart and soothe her fevered flesh. Gripping the edge of the sink, she twisted the tap all the way to the right and scooped up great handfuls of water. Heedless of her dress, ruined hair or the remnants of her makeup, she splashed it on her face over and over until her fingers were frozen and her already aching head throbbed from the temperature.

Switching off the faucet, Naomi lifted her dripping face to the mirror. After everything that had happened, she expected a monster. Blotchy skin, puffy eyes, hair ruined beyond repair. To her surprise, her hair was merely rumpled, her skin a little too pale devoid of makeup. It was as if her outer appearance had decided to counteract her inner turmoil. Drawing a shaky breath, she twisted the tap again and ran damp fingers through her slightly frizzy curls that had relaxed and settled into tousled waves. For the next several minutes, she was able to focus on reapplying eyeliner, mascara and a dusting of bronzer. She was just putting the finishing touches on her lip gloss when Stephanie suddenly appeared in the mirror behind her.

"I am in awe," she said, obviously drunk now and all the more worse for wear because of it. Her no doubt expensive tan looked orange, her face red and shiny, and her foundation long since melted off in the heat of the party. Naomi stared at her, coated her lips once more with gloss and snapped the tube shut.

"Really," she replied, deliberately enigmatic as she trusted her voice with little else.

"Yes, really," Stephanie insisted, traipsing further into the bathroom. The spiky heels of her stilettos clicked dully against the Italian tiles. "I knew if anybody could pull this off it would be you, but…honestly I didn't think you'd do it."

Naomi raised a brow, her pulse quickening. "It didn't exactly go as planned."

"Tell that to Liam and Annie," Stephanie laughed and joined her at the mirror. A brief flash of vain horror washed over her face as she took in her reflection. Setting down the martini glass that had been glued to her hand all night, she rummaged in her purse and began repairing her look. "Come on, don't be modest. I know a thing or two about betrayal and if the look on Annie's face is any clue, you and Liam gave her quite a show."

Several questions fluttered through Naomi's mind. Stephanie's comment about betrayal hinted at a bigger story. A real friend would want to know more and dig deeper, but Naomi couldn't see past Annie. "What do you think she saw?"

"I didn't ask, but she wasn't down here more than a couple minutes," she explained, expertly repairing her look, the slight swaying that hinted at the number of drinks she'd consumed barely noticeable. "When she came back, she went right to Silver and Teddy and they were outta here in two seconds."

Naomi stared at Stephanie in the mirror with new eyes and something close to awe. Had her partner in crime really timed it so perfectly that Annie saw the exact moment she kissed Liam…and then ran? The corners of her lips quirked ever so slightly in the ghost of a smile. The crushing weight of failure eased slightly and she squared her shoulders. "What about Liam?"

"Oh, about any second now he's going to realize she's gone," Stephanie replied, her words coming between swipes of dark wine colored gloss. Tossing the tube back in her purse, she surveyed the repair work. Apparently satisfied – and Naomi had to admit, she looked perfectly put together once again – she propped a hand on her hip and raised a brow in the mirror. "And probably run out of here like the whipped little boy he is. Unless you stop him."

Naomi turned away from the mirror and bit her lip in concentration. The plan had been to play on Liam's temper and possessive streak which had worked even better than expected thanks to her freak out. Even now her stomach turned at the memory. She could still feel Kyle's hand on her arm, like he'd left her with an invisible brand. Her mind worked, a new strategy unfolding as naturally to her as breathing. If Kyle was still here, she could easily track Liam down and oh so reluctantly ask her ex to remove the jocks from the premises. Say they were making her nervous the way they were looking at her. With memories of the rape so close to the surface, even innocent glances felt like leers of a predator. Liam would do it, too. In a heartbeat. The look on his face when she'd demanded he keep her secret had told her as much. Even if they weren't together anymore, doing nothing in light of what he'd learned was killing him. The more she thought about it, the more she realized confiding in Liam about the rape should have been her plan from the beginning. Reeling him in now would be so easy.

Or would it? The kiss they'd shared had been completely one sided. Naomi knew the only reason it lasted as long as it did was because she had caught him off guard. Whatever feelings Liam had left for her didn't involve romance or even attraction. The rejection might have cut more deeply if she'd felt anything at all when their lips met, but in truth touching him, pressing her nearly naked form against his familiar body had been mechanical, even foreign. It scared her. Sex had always been something she'd enjoyed and excelled at and now she felt nothing but numb. If it had been anybody but Liam, she probably would have recoiled in disgust. Apparently Cannon had taken that from her as well.

Fighting the wave of revulsion – both at thoughts of Cannon and the idea of using her rape as a tool – Naomi returned her gaze to the mirror and made sure her smile conveyed confidence. "I think I've done enough damage tonight. If I know Annie, she'll do the rest."

* * *

In the backseat of Teddy's convertible, Annie silently counted the lights lining the residential, then commercial, then residential streets of Beverly Hills. The steady pattern of light, then dark was a poor distraction, but at least it was something to keep her occupied. Predictably at first, Silver had pried for more details in her usual blunt way, but Annie refused to talk. She knew if she so much as uttered Liam's name her tenuous grip on her emotions would shatter and she was saving that for the privacy of her bedroom. Alone. So, she kept her face neutral and stared the landscape passing by in a blur.

Thoughts were more difficult to control than words. A stubborn, relentless part of her brain didn't believe that what she'd seen was real. It wanted to dissect the moment in horrific detail for a flaw or some kind of proof that she hadn't really seen Liam making out with a practically naked Naomi. By the time Teddy pulled into her driveway she nearly cried with relief.

Mumbling her thanks for the ride, Annie climbed out of the convertible, heedless of her stupidly short dress in her haste to reach the sanctuary of the house. Still barefoot, the cement was warm and smooth beneath her feet and she ran to the door in a vain attempt to get inside before she broke.

"Annie, wait," Silver called, the sound of a car door opening and closing a sure sign that her friend wasn't willing to let her escape quietly.

"I'm fine," she forced the blatant and pointless lie through tightly clenched teeth. "I just…want to get out of this stupid dress and go to bed."

"That sounds like a plan," Silver said, a little breathlessly as she caught up with Annie at the door. "I'll keep you company."

"I don't want-."

"I don't care," she declared without hesitation. "Your house is dark. I know your mom isn't home and Dixon is still at the party. I'm not leaving you alone."

Annie glared at her as she unlocked the front door and stomped over the threshold. "Why? You think I'm so emotionally unstable I can't be trusted alone?"

"No," Silver calmly closed and relocked the door. "But I'm your friend. You can pretend you're mad and maybe you are, but I know you, Annie. Your heart's breaking."

The simple and wholly accurate description nearly ripped her apart. Focusing on her misdirected anger, she turned her back on Silver and took the stairs two at a time. "I just want to be alone."

"Too bad," her friend sighed, following her to the landing. The other girl's longer stride ate up the distance between them and before Annie could close and lock her bedroom door, Silver slipped through. She said nothing as Annie threw her shoes angrily toward her open closet and paced mindlessly over the carpet. Her grip was slipping. Any second now she'd have to let go.

"Okay, I'm not fine," she admitted, slumping on the edge of the bed. Keeping her breath shallow, she blinked furiously at the tears gathering in her eyes. "But really, you don't need to stay and watch me lose it."

"It's part of the job," Silver pointed out with a wan smile. "Best friends and all. You'd do the same for me."

Her cell phone rang before Annie was forced to reply and she gratefully used the moment to swallow the lump in her throat. Silver fumbled in her bag and frowned at the caller ID. "Oh, great. It's um, it's Liam."

Annie's stomach twisted violently and she shook her head. "I turned off my phone. I don't want to talk to him."

Silver shot her an inscrutable look and pressed a button. Her voice was neutral when she answered. "Hey…yeah, yeah I know where she is. Uh, she's at home…Because I'm _with _her, how do you think I know? No, I don't think that's a good idea. She's um…she got sick and uh, Teddy and I took home."

Feeling like a coward, but not caring, Annie grabbed her robe and headed down the hallway to the bathroom. She couldn't talk to him. Not now. The idea made her want to throw up. The shred of self-confidence that had fought so hard against Jasper's predictions and the idea that Liam would ever cheat on her screamed at her to turn around. He deserved a chance to explain. She deserved to hear it. After everything they'd been through, that part of her balked against the idea of throwing it away over what could be a misunderstanding.

Annie's leaden feet didn't change course, however and without hesitation she locked the bathroom door behind her. The image of Liam and Naomi kissing burned into her brain overruled everything else. Mechanically, she stripped off her dress and slipped into the fluffy purple robe. There was absolutely nothing sexy about it, but she felt safe in it, comforted. Quickly, she washed her face, avoiding the mirror and her no doubt frumpy reflection. The last thing she needed was yet another reminder of the differences between her and Naomi.

She yanked the pins out of her messy updo, tearing at her hair but not caring. The flashes of pain were an all too brief distraction. Suddenly exhausted, her emotions teetering on the brink, she made her way back to her bedroom. The house was silent. Relieved, Annie pushed over her half closed door to find Silver staring out the window, tapping her cell against her chin absently.

"So, what did he say?" she asked, unable to reign in her curiosity. "Did he believe you?"

She snorted indelicately and shook her head. "I doubt it. He wanted to come over."

"He's done with Naomi already?" Annie asked with blatant bitterness.

"Yeah, Naomi didn't come up," Silver responded. "He was worried about you."

"Why?" Annie asked as tears filled her eyes and colored her voice. "He wasn't worried about me when he was kissing his ex girlfriend."

Her friend turned away from the window, her expression filled with compassion that made it harder for Annie to fight the tears. Silver's heels made no sound on the carpet as she joined her at the foot of the bed. She opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, but in true Silver fashion plunged ahead regardless. "Annie, are you sure of what you saw? I mean, really sure? It just doesn't make sense-."

"They were in a bedroom," Annie interrupted. "The sheets on the bed were all messed up and Naomi's dress was on the floor. Liam had…he had his arms around her and he…they kissed. I didn't stick around to see if that was the opening act or the encore."

Silver said nothing for a moment and Annie thought she'd have to explain it all over again. Finally, she groaned and glared at the ceiling. "I'm gonna kill him. I told him not to…he _promised _me he wouldn't hurt you and now… you know what? I'm going to kill Naomi, too. I knew that bitch was lying about being okay with this. I knew it."

"Silver, stop," she sobbed. Silver's anger on her behalf dissolved the part of Annie that still clung to hope. Silver was the closest thing she had to an objective observer and if she believed it, then it really was true. Liam really had kissed Naomi and maybe worse. Probably worse. Annie's knees gave and she sank to the edge of the bed as the tears fell harder and faster.

Immediately, Silver was at Annie's side, wrapping her arms around her and murmuring unintelligible words of comfort. Annie buried her face in her hands as her heart broke over and over again. She wanted to thank her friend for staying despite her protests, but she couldn't get anything out around the body wracking sobs. The only silver lining to the whole wretched night, she realized through her tears, was that she didn't have to go through it alone.


	12. Chapter 12

_AN: Firstly, thank you so much for the response to the last chapter. Secondly, as you read this chapter and the next few that follow just remember one thing. Make up sex is the best sex, right? ;p_

Chapter 12

On Monday morning rudely reminded Liam of how much he hated school. After a mostly sleepless weekend, half spent figuring out what hell the wrong with Annie and half spent kicking himself for being so dense, the looming specter of a full week of classes filled him with dread. That morning he'd woken up to the sun streaming through the ocean facing windows of his bedroom on the yacht. Water lapped softly at the hull while he mentally weighed the pros and cons of skipping school and simply hiding all day. Eventually he came to the conclusion if he was going to be miserable he might as well be in a miserable place.

Arriving early had been an accident. For once traffic hadn't been bumper to bumper and Liam had cruised through the streets on autopilot. The mansions, luxury cars, and pristine lawns that usually provided a little eye candy flew by in an unseen blur. Liam's mind had been somewhere else, caught on the same circular train of self-recrimination that had dominated his waking hours since Friday night.

Figuring out what had happened hadn't taken long after he realized that Silver had lied to him. Annie had never been sick. Naomi had not only set him up brilliantly, she'd set up Annie as well. Her sycophantic new best friend had either spun Annie some story about what went down in that guestroom or lured her there to see for herself. Either way, Liam knew he was in trouble.

Between bouts of guilt, his temper flared. Nothing had happened. _Nothing._ A part of him hoped that Annie actually _had _seen something because the idea that she'd just believe some random lie from some random girl without even confronting him sent a sharp spike of disappointment straight through his gut. After everything they'd been through together he'd earned more trust than that. Immediately after that thought raced through his brain, the guilt would return because he knew Annie and knew that if she was so upset that she wouldn't even answer his calls, she definitely had seen something.

Liam parked his car in the usual spot and automatically scanned the lot for Annie's, hope struggling against certainty that he wouldn't find her. She'd been avoiding him all weekend and he was reconciled to the fact that she wasn't going to come to him.

Retracing the familiar steps to his locker, Liam wrestled with what to say when he saw her. Not knowing what exactly she'd seen kept tripping him up. He toyed with playing dumb and acting like he had no clue anything was wrong. He could tell her everything and act like that had been the plan all along. Because it _had been_ the plan. He'd never intended to lie to her.

Liam paused in front of his open locker, his European history textbook hovering in midair. How much of the truth could he tell Annie when he'd promised Naomi he'd keep quiet about the rape? Sighing heavily, he placed the book on the top shelf of his locker and leaned his forehead against the edge of the cool metal door. When he'd made that promise, Liam hadn't been thinking about Annie. He hadn't been thinking about anything, his mind little more than a blank slate in light of what Naomi had revealed. More than anything he wanted to hate his ex. At least then he'd have some outlet for the contradicting guilt and frustration and anger roiling through his veins. But how the hell could he hate her after what she'd been through?

Once again, he arrived at the end of the infuriating train of thought without any further enlightenment. With a resigned sigh, he finished collecting his books for first period. He and Annie didn't share any classes, but if he hurried he could catch her before the bell and at the very least get an idea of how deep a hole he'd fallen into. Closing his locker, Liam turned and nearly stepped on the owner of a pair of wide, blue eyes that were currently narrowed at him in accusation.

"Silver, I'm not in the mood," Liam griped, immediately irritated with the willowy brunette.

"Too bad," she fired back, standing directly in his path. Students were rapidly filling the hallway, forming a sort of channel that preventing him from swerving around her. "I warned you not to hurt her, Liam. What the hell were you thinking?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," he replied, even though that same question had been plaguing him all weekend. "Now get out of my way."

"So Annie didn't see you making out with Naomi while she was running around in her underwear?" Silver challenged. Folding her arms across her chest, she shrugged and proceeded to abuse sarcasm. "That's fantastic. She'll be so relieved to know she hallucinated the whole thing."

Guilt gnawed at Liam as Silver confirmed his worst suspicions. His protests were feeble. "Whatever she…whatever Annie thinks she saw…it's not true."

"You weren't kissing Naomi?"

"Not…technically." he said, glancing at the other students passing by. Most of them seemed oblivious to the conversation taking place in their midst, but Liam doubted the gossip hounds would pass up the opportunity to catch this conversation. Lowering his voice, he stepped closer to Silver. "She kissed me."

"And you kissed her back."

"What? No!" he cried, earning him some blatant stares. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed Silver's arm and propelled them both down the hallway. "I pushed her away and told her it wasn't happening. I'm not an idiot Silver. If I wanted to cheat on Annie do you really think I would have done it at that party knowing she was there?"

"They say the possibility of being caught is a heady aphrodisiac," she quipped.

They rounded a corner and entered a more sparsely populated open air walkway. Liam stopped and vowed through clenched teeth. "I did _not _cheat on Annie. Naomi kissed me, I pushed her away. End of story."

"Then why was she half naked?" Silver demanded, dropping the wit. "Why did you have her arms around her?"

"Because she set me up," he cried, losing what little remained of his cool. He gave Silver the Cliffs Notes version of how Naomi used her party at as ruse to pit him and Annie against each other, leaving out her confession about the rape. As much as he wanted to, it wasn't his secret to tell – to anybody. The warning bell rang as he finished, any plans he had to find Annie before first period essentially ruined. "Naomi set us all up. I wouldn't cheat on Annie. I couldn't. By now I figured you'd know that instead of wasting all this time making me prove it. Again."

For a few moments Silver studied him, her mouth pinched and eyes narrowed. Liam could have walked away, but instead he waited. They'd all suffered Naomi's schemes, but from what he understood, none more so than Silver. If she believed him, maybe he'd have a chance with Annie. Eventually, she looked away and swore. "Dammit, I know you wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?"

"Cheat on Annie," Silver admitted grudgingly. Crossing her arms she flicked her cool blue gaze at him. "You're way too whipped. This whole mess has Naomi written all over it."

"Only you could turn being faithful into an insult," he shook his head, but the relief he felt was tangible.

"Whatever," she brushed the comment aside and returned to business. "What are you gonna do about it? Have you talked to Annie?"

"I was going to until someone hijacked me at my locker," he said pointedly. "I tried to call her, but she ignored me all weekend."

"Yeah, well, she's really upset, so that's probably a good thing," Silver replied.

They started walking in the same direction toward their separate first period classes. Liam hated exposing even a hint of weakness, but he couldn't help asking. "Do you think she'll believe me?"

"I…eventually, yeah," she nodded. A worried crease appeared between her brows. "If you tell her what you told me, she'll put the pieces together, but…"

"But what?"

"Well, you know Annie," Silver said with a sigh. "She's had all weekend to dwell and by now who knows what she's thinking? I'll try and talk to her, but it's not going to mean anything until she hears it from you. I'd be happy to kill Naomi for you, though." They arrived at an intersection in the hallways and Silver stopped, offering him a tired smile. A few students milled around them, but most had made it to their respective classrooms. "Crap, I'm late for Mixed Media and Mr. Cannon wanted to see me early to talk about my senior project."

Liam froze. "Cannon's your advisor?"

"Yup. Which is actually kinda awesome because I didn't think he'd be here this semester," she explained as she backed down the hallway, her brown knee high books echoing on the tiled floor. "I'll see you later."

"Silver, wait-."

"Gotta go!"

The final bell rang as she ducked into a room at the very end of the hall, leaving Liam alone and definitely late for his first period History class. Instinct spurred him to race down the hall and drag Silver out, away from the man who'd raped Naomi, but he didn't. Angry to have yet another hopeless situation added to his list of concerns, he instead made his way to class.

Somehow, he managed to sneak into his usual seat at the back of the room before the teacher took attendance. Although from the disapproving look she leveled at him, Liam knew she'd noticed his tardiness.

From the back pocket of his jeans, his cell phone buzzed softly. The second the teacher looked away, he retrieved it, hoping just as he had all weekend, that it was Annie. The number, however, was unknown. Frowning, Liam opened the text and only had to read the message once to know who sent it.

_34__th__ and Victoria. 9pm. Tonight. _

Liam sighed and quickly responded. _Not interested. _Trevor or Lindsay could have sent the message, maybe even Nico, but he doubted it. A few minutes later his phone buzzed again.

_$1500 if you win. _

He raised his eyebrows, staring at the tantalizing sum. For a few moments, he toyed with the idea. A race would feel good right now, let him blow off some steam and frustration and maybe pocket another healthy sum that would put him that much closer to getting his own place. There was only so long he could deal with squatting on Teddy's dad's yacht before he started to feel like a charity case.

Eventually, he replied. _No thanks. _Shoving the phone back in his pocket, he expected it to buzz again, but it didn't. Liam was relieved. The only thing he really cared about was returning to Annie's good graces. He already had to explain why he hadn't told her about the first race. He didn't need to add another one.

* * *

Immediately after seventh period, Naomi made a beeline for the ladies room. Bypassing the closest one by the library, she walked quickly – almost running – against the flow of fellow students until she reached a little used restroom tucked in the corner furthest from the main entrance. It was so far out of the way as to be an afterthought and she knew she wasn't the only girl who had sought refuge there. The room had such a stigma as Meltdown Central, some students avoided it altogether rather than risk the chance of becoming the latest subject of speculative gossip. This late in the day, however, there was nobody there to witness Noami's hasty retreat.

As soon as the heavy wooden door swung shut behind her, Naomi released a breath that had been shrieking within her lungs nearly all day. Panic taunted her from the fringes of her frazzled nerves. Her pulse had been racing from the moment she woke up and now in the almost eerie silence of the rarely used bathroom, it thundered through her head like a drumbeat.

Only the barest hints of what had happened Friday night were being dispersed through the school. Apparently, the alpha jocks Liam had kicked out so unceremoniously hadn't been eager to tell the world they couldn't stand up to one lousy guy, no matter what badass reputation he currently sported. Instead, whispers traveled about some sex orgy that Naomi had either participated in or at the very least organized, but since no one could confirm it and her reputation was hardly that of a vestal virgin, the rumors had floundered by lunch.

Tossing her purse on the counter, Naomi braced her arms on the marble and hung her head. Truthfully, she would have welcomed those rumors. Any other day, she might have even encouraged them. Anything to keep people from knowing what really happened. Completely sober now and having had the entire weekend to obsess over it, she'd spent the day barely breathing and fighting a full blown anxiety attack.

Liam knew. He knew, he knew, _he knew_. The two words swirled through her brain on a constant loop, occasionally giving her an odd and fleeting sense of comfort, but mostly making her want to throw up. For nearly four months she'd been so careful and in one night that had been shot to hell in a flare of fear and temper. Fear when Kyle had grabbed her and ruined her charade. Temper when Liam had so arrogantly condemned her. Even his promise to keep her secret failed now to reassure her. Nobody had more to lose than she did and if she couldn't even trust herself to keep the rape under wraps, how could she trust anybody else?

Mindful of her carefully applied make up, Naomi pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to rub away the building headache. She'd considered skipping school, but with sleep illusive as ever and every waking moment consumed by worry and dread, she hadn't had much of a choice. She needed to know what was being said. By lunch she'd been so keyed up waiting for the other shoe to drop, she'd nearly spent her entire free period on the track running laps just to burn off the nervous energy. Clearer heads had thankfully kept her from that level of insanity – not to mention sweat - when Stephanie suggested sneaking off campus for an extended lunch. Whether by accident of design, the brunette hadn't once mentioned Liam or Annie and for a few minutes during the hour Naomi actually managed to think about something else. Now, with just one more class to suffer through, she had to hope surviving the day meant tomorrow would be better. At least she'd successfully avoided Cannon.

Far too soon, the warning bell rang. Naomi sighed heavily and with effort focused her attention on retouching her already flawless appearance. Perfection had become more than a simple obsession. Now it was the bar by which she measured her success. So long as she looked like the old Naomi, her plan was succeeding.

A stall door unexpectedly opened and she nearly dropped her mascara in shock when Annie's visibly horrifed reflection gaped at her in the mirror. Her gaze flicked to the bottom of the other stall, wondering if anybody else was lurking in the silence, but there was no one. They were alone. Naomi's lip curled in disgust as her former best friend resignedly joined her at the sink. "How poetic."

"Excuse me?" Annie looked up and met her gaze in the mirror. Naomi hadn't intended to say a single word but after a full day of painting on a careless smile giving voice to her inner turmoil felt too good to stop.

"I come here for a little peace and quiet and run into you," she rolled her eyes and flicked the mascara wand over her lashes. "My lucky day."

Annie's eyes widened, but her voice remained neutral. "Well, I see you're done pretending that we're still friends which means we can skip the bullshit." Carefully she washed and dried her hands before turning to address her physically, rather than through the reflection in the mirror. "You never change, do you?"

Naomi raised a brow, capped her lip gloss and tossed it in her bag. With a hand on her hip, she rose to her full height and looked down her nose at Annie. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You could have just been honest and told me how you felt," she replied, her tired eyes sparkling with the first hint of tears. "But no. You had to play games. You had to humiliate me."

"This coming from the girl who stole not one, but two of my boyfriends?" Naomi wanted to laugh, completely unmoved by the obvious pain etched into every line on Annie's face. Despite her best efforts at self-sabotage, her plan had worked. Hurt and despair radiated off the girl in waves and proving that misery truly does love company, it made Naomi feel one hundred times better. "Where was all your maturity and concern when you hooked up with Ethan? Did you even wait until you knew Liam and I had broken up before you moved in on him? You had this coming."

"Maybe. I may have deserved this, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," Annie readily agreed with an intensity that spoke more of anger than sadness. "Liam and I were good together. And you ruined it."

Naomi was suddenly struck by a sense of extreme déjà vu. A year ago, she and Annie had been locked in an exactly replica of the current situation. Their places reversed. As before, Naomi remained cool and detached, belying the anguish beneath the surface while Annie's passions showed clearly in her tears and the flush of her cheeks. The memory pierced her heart, reminding her of a time when she'd been the one Liam was fighting for, the one he relentlessly pursued. That would never happen again. Even if a guy was interested, she'd never be able to let him get close. Friday night had been all the proof she'd ever need. Either she'd feel fear and revulsion at another man's touch or she'd feel nothing.

Swallowing the nausea that suddenly burned at the back of her throat, Naomi turned up the disdain. "If you think this is my fault then you don't know Liam at all. He doesn't do what he doesn't want to do. That includes everything from homework to people. I don't know what you saw, Annie, but trust me. Liam was exactly where he wanted to be."

"Liam loves me," Annie insisted, but the retort was automatic and uncertainty shone as clearly in her eyes as the tears that continued to pool.

"Really? What did he do after you ran away from my party like the scared little girl everybody knows you are? Did he chase after you? Show up at your house in the middle of the night and try to explain?" Naomi could tell from the way Annie dropped her gaze that she'd picked the perfect attack. Returning to her bag she continued casually, her confidence growing with every carefully aimed barb. "You know, a year ago, when we were fighting, he went to Jen's and got so pissed when she wouldn't let him see me that he broke the glass door. With his fists. I'm sure he did something like that for you. Because he loves you. He wants you. And Liam fights for what he wants."

An actual tear slid down Annie's cheek and in the reflection she swiped at it angrily. Gathering her purse, she hoisted it up her shoulder. Naomi deliberately avoided looking at her, aimlessly fixing her already perfect hair. "Even if Liam and I break up, he's not going back to you. You won't win, Naomi."

"Oh, Annie. That just shows how naïve you really are," Naomi tsked with a patronizing frown. "Liam and I have been on this rollercoaster since the minute he came to Beverly Hills. He may have been distracted by you for a minute, but he'll come back to me like he always does. Like he did on Friday. It's…chemistry, it's fate…it's inevitable. You should cut your losses now. While you still have some pride."

Naomi withstood the anguished fury of Annie's glare for a few more seconds. Then the girl briefly closed her eyes and silently left the restroom. Naomi smiled as the door thudded softly shut. Centered and refreshed, she gracefully shouldered her purse and exited as well, slipping anonymously among the throng of students hurrying to their final class of the day.

* * *

Eighth period passed in a blur and when the last bell rang, Annie gathered her books and sped out the door. Automatically, a part of her thought to find Liam, an impulse she'd been fighting all day. Bypassing her locker, she headed straight for her car. The internship at the playhouse began in an hour. What had once felt like a bittersweet distraction that infringed on the time she could spend with her boyfriend now felt like a safe haven.

All weekend and then throughout the school day, Annie had put off confronting Liam. She knew they had to talk. Sometime on Saturday, after she woke from a dreamless and exhausted sleep that had left her groggy and with a relentless headache, she'd come to the conclusion that maybe Silver had been right. Maybe what she thought she saw in that guestroom wasn't the whole story. At the very least, after everything they'd been through, Liam deserved a chance to explain.

But with every text she had read and every voicemail she had immediately listened to, Annie's fingers hesitated over the touchscreen, each response routinely abandoned. Not knowing the truth was agony, the threat of having her fears validated even worse. So she had put it off until she was more in control, until she could see him in person, until she heard the rumors at school and maybe glimpsed another side of the story.

By seventh period, Annie had nearly reached that place of Zen, or at the very least had accepted that she would never be more ready to face him. Although, she had managed to avoid Liam the whole day, she knew he was there. The GTO stood out like a giant, orange beacon crammed between tiny, silver and black luxury vehicles. She'd entertained a dozen different outcomes of the impending conversation, the most horrific being the end of the relationship. Looking at that car, thinking that maybe she'd never ride in it or drive it again, tears came to her eyes. Not simply because she'd miss the car, but because of what it meant that Liam had trusted her to drive it. What they'd shared. Annie had resolved then that so long as Liam's explanation rang true, she'd believe him and not only put what happened at Naomi's party behind her, but also the confrontation with Jasper. She'd fought so hard over the summer to be her own person, only to have it crumble around her ears in a matter of days. She was sick of it.

Then she'd run into Naomi in the bathroom and her resolve deteriorated. Perhaps on a good day, Annie could have overlooked the startling similarity between her former best friend's words and the same spiteful barbs Jasper had leveled at her, but with images from the guestroom so fresh in her mind, they cut through her defenses. Already caught off guard at unexpectedly meeting, Annie wilted with every airily confident assertion Naomi sent her way. By the time she'd slid into her seat in class just as the bell rang, the word 'inevitable' was spiraling through her head on a constant loop. What was the point in fighting for someone she'd already lost and maybe never had to begin with?

The bright sunshine momentarily blinded her as she pushed through the main double doors. Automatically, her eyes slid to the left side of the parking lot, expecting to see Liam by his car. He'd texted a couple of times that day, trying to arrange a meeting with her after school and eventually she'd accepted. An agreement that now filled her with panic. The car she shared with Dixon was parked on the opposite side of the lot, as far from his as she could get. If she ran full out, she could probably get there before he caught up to her.

But Liam wasn't at his car. Annie stopped abruptly at the foot of the stairs, forcing other students to swerve around her or run her down. Closing her eyes, she swallowed and said a silent prayer that Liam was still inside the building, that he wasn't waiting by _her _car. Even before she looked, she knew that hope was futile.

Liam was leaning against the hood of her car. No bag, no books, nothing to indicate he'd even been in class. With his hands shoved in the pockets of his worn jeans and a plain, white, short sleeved shirt standing out against his tanned skin, he looked so good, so _him, _that she wanted to cry. For a second, the instinct to run into his arms and forget the whole wretched weekend ever happened was so strong she started sprinting toward the car. Just as quickly, the fantasy shattered. Her steps slowed as her brain struggled for a way to get inside the car without having to talk to him. On top of everything else, she was afraid the minute she opened her mouth, she'd burst into tears.

He'd been staring at the ground, digging at the asphalt with his shoe as she approached. When she was twenty feet away, he looked up, standing cautiously, but hopeful as she closed the remaining distance between them. Annie must have looked as miserable as she felt because his expression immediately became wary. He opened his mouth to speak. "Annie-."

"I can't do this right now," she replied, her voice as tight and strained as her nerves. Brushing past him and fumbling with her keys, she tried not to notice how good he smelled. "I have to get to the theater."

Liam let her open the door, but grabbed the frame before she could slide in and close it. "Okay, then when? When are you going to let me explain what happened?"

Tears burned her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. "I-I don't know. Later."

"When, Annie," he pressed, leaning on the door that stood between them, hemming her in. Despite his persistence, his voice was low, calm, and it flowed over her like a balm, soothing the frayed edges of her ragged emotions. Rather than make her feel better, it only weakened her already shaky control. Annie closed her eyes.

"Liam, please."

"I know I screwed up, but it's not what you think, okay?" His fingers grazed her cheek, slipped into her hair and cradled her face. Practically against her will, she responded to the touch, leaning into it even as the first tear slid down her cheek. Annie was in agony. Even as her body responded and was comforted by the connection, none of it reached her heart or mind. Liam's thumb brushed against her cheek and her lips trembled. "Nothing happened with Naomi. I promise."

"That's not what she said," Annie whispered, even though in that moment, the truth didn't matter. She was buried so deeply beneath Jasper and Naomi's words, even Liam's reassurances couldn't dig her out.

"What are you talking about?"

Annie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hang onto the warmth of his palm against her skin for just a few more seconds. "Naomi, she…she told me it…it was inevitable."

"What?" he repeated. "Annie, that doesn't make-."

"It doesn't matter," she sighed and pulled away, somehow mustering the strength to meet his eye. Instantly, she knew it was a mistake. The cool blue, only inches away, saw through her, straight to the broken fragments of her heart.

"Of course it matters."

"Just tell me one thing," With infinite effort, she held his gaze, knowing that this close he couldn't hide anything. "Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I didn't see you and Naomi kissing."

Liam's icy blue eyes darkened, just a fraction, but it was enough – not that she'd expected a different answer. She knew what she saw and there was nothing he could do to change it. He closed his eyes, defeated. "Annie-."

"I've got to go," she murmured, sliding into the driver's seat and tossing her bag aside.

"Don't do this."

"Bye, Liam," she said without looking. This time when she pulled the door, he let go and it shut so quietly she wasn't sure it caught. But the car started without a peep. Completely numb, Annie pulled out of her parking spot, feeling the weight of his gaze all the way to the exit and beyond. Only when she turned at a traffic light, the school completely hidden from view, did the sensation lift.

She was alone. She didn't feel any better.

* * *

Liam stood in the spot Annie had left him long after the sound of her departing car faded on the warm breeze. He wasn't sure what the hell had just happened but it felt an awful lot like something had ended. No matter how hopeless the situation had appeared over the weekend the idea that he and Annie could be over, just like that, left him dumbstruck.

With effort, he forced his feet to move and with each step his sluggish brain started working beyond the shock. Halfway across the parking lot the first sparks of anger surfaced, stoked by his inability to _do _anything to solve the problem. He couldn't explain what happened if Annie wouldn't talk to him and apparently the only thing she wanted to hear was that she really _had_ hallucinated the whole thing like Silver had flippantly suggested. It wasn't right. Whatever was supposed to happen wasn't meant to go down without the chance to explain his actions.

By the time he reached his car, Liam's hands were curled into fists and they itched to pound on something or somebody – anything he could find to blame. _Naomi_, his brain supplied. This was all her fault anyway. She'd invited them to that stupid party knowing full well what she intended to do. Before he even realized it, his cell phone was in his hand and he was calling her. No answer. He didn't bother to leave a voicemail.

Wrenching the door open, he slid into the front seat of the Judge and fumed at the steering wheel. Fragments of his rational mind told him having a fit wouldn't solve anything. Annie needed more time. Whatever Naomi had said had made everything worse and if he was patient, he'd get his chance.

"My chance to what?" he muttered angrily. Explain to his girlfriend that while, yes, she did see him kissing his ex, Naomi had kissed him first, so that made it okay. Even if he did get the chance and somehow managed to explain it in a way that didn't make him sound like the complete ass he was, it didn't mean Annie would forgive him. She'd been down this road before with Naomi and he knew how afraid she was of having to go down it again.

On the seat beside him, his cell phone rang. Wearily, he glanced at the screen and sighed at the familiar number. He brought it to his ear and hit a button. "Look, I already told you. I'm not-."

"The pot has just doubled," Trevor's sharp, business like voice cut right through Liam's barely formed protests. "You win, you take home three grand."

"Three thousand dollars," he repeated. "You're serious?"

"I don't joke about money," the money man's replied succinctly. Liam's gaze wandered over the dashboard of his car. Although it was silent, he could hear the phantom hum of the engine, feel the smooth shifting of the gears through the stick. His feet itched to stomp on the pedals and push the accelerator all the way to the floor. The only thing that had any hope of screaming louder than the pain and frustration in his heart was the adrenaline of a race.

"I'm in," he growled. Trevor promised to text him the details and he'd barely hung up before Liam had the key in the ignition and his foot on the clutch. Somewhere, buried deep beneath layers of indignation, fatigue and anguish his conscience begged the question: what about Annie?

To which Liam could only answer defiantly: what about her?


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Trevor's directions were precise and perfect as usual. Liam found the race easily, but purposely arrived fifteen minutes late.

As the crowd parted to allow his car access to the starting line, he studied the reaction of his team. Lindsay smiled when she saw him, the same friendly greeting she'd always had for him, although this time with a healthy dose of relief. Trevor nodded, a precise dip of his chin that betrayed neither happiness nor anger, just the money man's usual calculating gaze. Nico, as expected, was pissed. Liam grinned. The chip on his shoulder was weighing him down and he was itching to share it with someone.

Deliberately, he took his time shutting off the engine and climbing out of the Judge. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Liam strolled casually up to his 'team' and said hello as if nothing was wrong. "So, we ready for this or what? Who am I racing?"

"You're lucky you're racing anybody, man," Nico immediately growled in Liam's general direction. Up close the hatred in his nearly black eyes was palpable. "If one of the cars hadn't had a computer problem you'd be out fifteen hundred bucks."

Liam regarded him coolly, enjoying – in an empty sort of way – how much his non-reaction only incensed his rival further. Slowly, he scanned the crowed, noting the many pairs of eyes trained on him. He'd felt the weight of them the second he'd climbed out of the driver's seat, but now he confirmed that his reputation did indeed precede him. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder and shrugged. "Something tells me these guys wouldn't let the race start without me."

Nico scoffed. "Give me a break."

"Why don't you drive, Nico?" Liam lifted a brow. Leaning in conspiratorially, he murmured. "You know, Trevor told me the competition was a joke, so…you might just have a shot."

"Fuck you," he declared and starting toward him menacingly. Liam chuckled.

"Okay. Boys," Lindsay rolled her eyes and stepped between them. "Separate corners, huh? Looks like they're ready."

Whatever had been hampering the driver of a shiny electric blue import with the most ridiculous spoiler Liam had ever seen had been resolved. Without sparing Nico another glance, Liam slid back behind the wheel and maneuvered the car toward the designated starting line. He'd accepted the race as much for the escape as the money and as he'd hoped, the energy of the crowd overwhelmed his own thoughts and his heart began to race in anticipation of what was to come. Closing his eyes, the rumble of the engine ran all the way up his arms and through his chest until his pulse beat in time. It was almost enough to cover up the ragged hole Annie had left inside him that afternoon.

Thinking of Annie sent such a sharp spike of pain through him that he almost welcomed Nico's sudden invasion of his space at the open window. Almost.

"You know, Court, I'm glad you're back."

Holding on to aloof disdain was a little more difficult now, but Liam raised a brow and indulged the other racer. "Is that right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, folding his arms on the roof and peering inside the car. "Because that means I'm gonna be there when you crash and burn. And I'm gonna enjoy it."

This time Liam's grin was easy and genuine. "Seriously? You? These guys?" he looked out the window at the obviously nervous racers lined up beside him. "I don't think so, Nico."

"This cocky, asshole shit is going to bite you in the ass," Nico continued, undaunted. "And this crowd that loves you right now is going to turn on you. Then what are you going to do?"

The lucky girl chosen to start the race sauntered to the front and Liam revved the engine, but kept his attention focused on his supposed teammate. "You know why I always beat you? Why Lucas asked me to race for him instead of you?"

"I suppose you're gonna tell me."

"It's because you give a shit what these people think," Liam pointed out, the grin fading from his face. The starter girl raised her arms over her head and Nico had to back off even though Liam knew getting the last word had to be killing the other boy. The cacophony of the engines rose to a fever pitch and just before the girl dropped her arms and he stomped on the accelerator into the freedom of the race, he added. "I never cared."

* * *

Thursday morning Annie sat in her usual seat in Spanish class and picked at her nail polish. At the front of the room, Mr. Stevens – the most non-Spanish Spanish teacher ever – babbled through his lesson plan, stubbornly sticking to his 'all espanol all the time' rule even though his accent was terrible and most of the class had forgotten all they knew over the summer. Bright sunshine streamed through the windows lining the wall to her left, another typically beautiful day in Southern California. Annie scowled, fighting the urge to gaze outside. The windows overlooked the student parking lot, or more specifically the huge, black Lexus parked in Liam's usual spot. She couldn't decide if that made her feel better or worse.

With a sigh, Annie curled her hands into fists and tried to get through the reading assignment she was supposed to discuss with Ivy. The words wouldn't cooperate, blurring into an indecipherable mess on the page. Mechanically, she read the same sentence over and over and wondered where Liam was, what he was doing and why he hadn't been in school the past three days. Not that she'd know what to do if he was in school. Time had helped her reign in the tears, but her crisis of confidence had only grown worse.

"So, do you _comprende _this stuff or are you, like, as lost as me?" Ivy muttered.

"What?" Annie came out of her reverie with a jerk and blinked at her friend.

"I'll take that as a 'No way, Jose,'" she replied, leaning back in her chair and sighing heavily. "I swear, I forgot, like, every Spanish word I learned last year except taco, burrito and 'mas cervesa, por favor.'"

A faint smile touched Annie's lips. "Yeah, I didn't conjugate many verbs over the summer."

"I miss summer," Ivy gazed out the window wistfully. "The waves were totally killer this morning and I had to cut it short to make it to this stupid class."

Annie swallowed and kept her eyes glued to her Spanish textbook. "You, um…had practice this morning, right?"

"Yup. Team practice," she nodded, sweeping a long lock of hair behind her ear and wrapping her arms around her bent leg. Propping her chin on her knee, Ivy happily abandoned her assignment to wax poetic about her true love. "The only thing on the planet that'll get my ass out of bed before dawn."

Annie nodded. Dixon had been whining the night before about the early morning practice. While she'd lain in bed that morning, waiting for her alarm to go off, she'd heard him getting ready. Once again picking at her nail polish, she tried to sound disinterested as she asked. "Was, um…was Liam there?"

"No. He wasn't," Ivy said after a long pause. "He's missed the past two days. Coach is kinda pissed."

"Oh," she replied, her stomach twisting violently. Apparently she wasn't the only one Liam was avoiding.

"So, I guess this means you two aren't talking?"

"En espanol, por favor, en espanol!" Mr. Stevens called out from his desk. Annie shot a guilty look toward the front of the room, but her teacher's disapproving glare was directed at two of her classmates unlucky enough to have sat in the front row. Propping her head in her hand so her hair shielded her face, she turned to Ivy.

"No, we're not. Not really," she whispered. The silence wasn't absolute. There had been a few texts, an unanswered phone call, more habit than anything else, but at least she knew Liam was still alive. The texts had made it clear that she should let him know when she was ready to hear what he had to say. What wasn't as clear, what Annie only guessed at, was that the ball was in her court. Liam would be there when she was ready, but he wouldn't wait around begging for scraps of her time. Curiosity had always been her downfall and now she couldn't resist digging for any bit of info she could. "Have you seen him…or talked to him at all? Since Monday, I mean?"

Ivy's eyes widened slightly at the sudden urgency in Annie's voice. Mimicking, her posture, she hid behind her curtain of blond hair. "I…I think I saw him yesterday coming out of Auto Shop, but I didn't talk to him. We're not as tight as we used to be. Um, not to be totally nosy, but what's the deal? Did you, like, break up?"

Annie winced. That was the question she'd been asking herself over and over for nearly three days. When they'd spoken in the parking lot she'd been so confused, so emotionally wrecked that she could barely remember what she'd said. "I-I don't know."

"You don't _know_?" Ivy repeated incredulously. Mr. Stevens cleared his throat loudly and somehow the surfer managed to scrunch down in her seat even further. "Dude, how do you not know if you broke up with someone? I mean, wow, that was totally rude, but still…"

Annie closed her eyes, weary at the very idea of trying to explain to Ivy how Jasper's threats and Naomi's promises had congealed in her brain and corroded the confidence she'd once had in herself and her relationship with Liam. "It's…complicated. I just need time to sort out everything that happened…with Naomi, you know?"

"You know that they're not together, right?" Ivy whispered. Annie nodded. Silver had told her Liam's version of events when Annie had called her in hysterics after her internship Monday night. Much to her dismay and frustration, knowing the truth hadn't brought any sense of relief. For a long moment, the other girl chewed on her bottom lip and twirled her pen hypnotically with one hand. "Alright, I guess I can't blame you for being messed up about Naomi. I mean, I've _so _been down that road."

"They're inevitable, right?" Annie murmured bitterly, the phrase rubbing abrasively over the raw, open wound that was her heart. Ivy frowned skeptically and Annie waved her hand in dismissal. "Nevermind. I just mean history is hard to compete with."

"Yeah, I guess," Ivy agreed and fell silent once again. Annie thought the conversation was over until the other girl dropped her pen on the desk and leaned in closer. "Look, I'm seriously the _last _person to give advice about anything, but I do know Liam enough to know that he's totally the most loyal guy ever. He'll stick around through a lot of crap."

"I know," Annie replied carefully, unsure where Ivy was heading. "What are you-."

"Just…don't wait too long," Ivy cautioned. "To figure stuff out, I mean. Because if he thinks it's hopeless, he'll bail. He's not going to stick around just to have it all thrown back in his face."

At that moment, Mr. Stevens called the class to attention and Annie was saved from responding to Ivy's warning. Discussing the reading assignment took an agonizing thirty minutes. By the time the bell rang, she just wanted to go home, climb into bed and hide under the covers until her world went back to making sense. She knew Ivy was right about Liam. His loyalty caused him more pain than his explosive temper. Annie didn't have to look any further than his relationship with Colleen to see that. It made her sick to think that she, too, could hurt him so deeply.

Impulsively, Annie dug her cell out of her bag and scrolled through her contacts. She'd call Liam, tell him she'd calmed down and that they should talk. They _needed _to talk. What they had was too important to give up without a fight.

But her thumb hovered over his name, frozen and unable to make contact with the touchscreen. Inevitable, Naomi had promised. Annie sighed and tossed the phone back into her bag. At her locker now, she spun the combination and opened the door, wishing she could crawl inside. She didn't know if Naomi and Liam would get back together, in fact she doubted it more the further she got from that horrible accidental meeting in the ladies room. What kept her from calling wasn't the inevitable combustion of Naomi Clark and Liam Court.

It was fear of what would happen the next time.

* * *

Liam had won the race. Easily. Even Nico had looked pleased when he crossed the finish line so far ahead of the competition he'd already climbed out of his car by the time they came around the last corner. Liam hadn't been able to help being slightly disappointed. He'd been ready for a challenge, for a distraction he could get lost in. As it was, he'd pushed the Judge harder than necessary, burning through the meandering route like the devil had followed him out of hell.

Liam hadn't thought twice about attending the after party and while he gladly used the alcohol that flowed like water as another distraction, he'd kept to himself. Brennan and his entourage hadn't been at the race, but predictably they showed at the party and once again Liam had fended off Vanessa's advances. The liquor had been doing its job dulling his sharper edges, and even he could hear the lack of venom in his voice and note the way Vanessa's eyes sparkled mischievously as she sauntered away. Like it was all a game to her and she wasn't afraid to play a losing hand while she waited for the ace.

When the party had finally broken up, he had been too buzzed to drive, so he'd passed out in the backseat of his car for a few hours. The celebration was at Trevor's and the palatial mansion had more than enough room to accommodate the collection of random race fanatics who had partied a little too hard. Liam could have found a bed, but he didn't want to. He wasn't ready to be part of them again, to be _back. _Even though he'd happily taken their money and when Trevor told him about the next race in two days time Liam had agreed to drive without hesitation.

He'd won that race, too, and the next one a few days later. A week and a half after Annie had more or less broken up with him, Liam had pocketed six thousand dollars, consumed more alcohol than he had in a year and skipped half his classes. Still, he scoffed at the idea that he was back. Being back implied he'd failed elsewhere, that he'd given up and he hadn't, not really. He was just…disengaging from real life for a minute. Taking a break from all the drama. So, he stayed distant, aloof and waited for the time when he wasn't driving or drinking or surfing that he didn't think of Annie. Because when that happened, then he'd know, he'd be able to decide which path to take. The one he seemed destined for that had taken Lucas to jail or the one he'd flirted with for a year that had led him to Annie.

The grey light of pre-dawn greeted Liam when he woke up sober in the back seat of his car. It was becoming a habit, sleeping off the buzz after the party and then driving home before the city shook off the semi-drowse of night and started another day. This time, he didn't know who's house had been trashed the night before, or who's ritzy neighborhood they'd invaded, but he wasn't so far gone that he didn't know how to get home.

The constant flow of LA traffic kept Liam company on the drive back to the yacht. Acutely conscious of the wad of cash in his front pocket, he debated asking Teddy for the combination to the safe he'd discovered behind a false panel in the wall next to the bar. Of course, his friend would ask why he wanted to know and what he needed to store in it – all questions Liam wasn't looking to answer. He resolved to stash it in the same so-obvious-it-was-perfect spot with the rest of his winnings until he figured out why he was hoarding it rather than using it to get his own place like he'd promised.

The sun was just creeping over the horizon when he pulled into the parking spot he now considered his. He let the car idle for a moment, listening to the engine's familiar growl. It needed a tune-up, he decided, and probably new tires if he wanted to win the next race. Then the surf caught his attention, the first rays of dawn hitting the cresting waves. Liam glanced at the clock. He had three hours before his first class – if he decided to go today. A smile curved his lips as he thought, why not?

The nearest beach was deserted save for only the most enthusiastic surfers. They shared the waves, but otherwise left each other alone, which suited Liam just fine. Talking was the last thing he wanted to do. Thinking didn't land much higher on the list, so he rode each wave hard, pushing the board and his body to the limits of their endurance. Because when he stopped to think, when he slowed down enough to breathe, Annie was there. Her smile, her tears, the softness of her cheek against his skin. Good or bad, the thoughts didn't matter, everything hurt the same.

Later, with just enough time to make it back to the yacht, shower and get to school before the bell, he reluctantly left the water and the waves behind. Arriving back at the marina, he discovered someone had taken his usual spot. Scowling at the violation of an unwritten code of conduct, Liam found an opening at the opposite end of the lot. The change in scenery forced him to take a different path, past boats that showed their age or were even used for work rather than idle pleasure.

Liam reached the corner of the dock and was about to turn left towards the yacht when a sailboat on the opposite side caught his eye. His steps slowed and despite his fatigue and all the other demands on his time, he veered off course. The obviously derelict boat looked worse the closer he got, but it bobbed on the water defiantly.

A deeply tanned man, old enough to be his grandfather, worked the cluttered deck with ease and an energy that belied his apparent years. Noticing Liam the old sailor gave him a nod and went back to sweeping the debris of time from the worn, weather beaten deck.

Liam's gaze swept over the peeling paint and tattered sail – even rolled up he could tell it was starting to decay. The glass was missing from the cabin portals. While he was a long way from an expert, the boat's shortcomings seemed to be mostly cosmetic. The mast towered majestically toward the sky and water lapped gently against a sound hull. A 'For Sale' sign was propped against the helm.

"Why are you selling her?" Liam asked before he could second guess himself. The cash from last night's race weighed heavily in his pocket. The old man paused and leaned casually against his broom.

"My daughter gets nervous, me being out on the water on my own," he explained with a wink. "I'm not as young as I look."

Liam's lips twitched in the first genuine smile he'd had in days. "How much?"

The old man raised a brow and studied him critically. "This ain't a pleasure cruiser, kid. If you're looking for a toy to impress the girls you better move along. She's not pretty but I won't give her away."

Liam nodded, giving the ship another appraising look. Then he took in the rest of the marina, nearly blinded by the sunrise reflecting off the shiny yachts and sailboats – all pristine, all state-of-the-art. Matching the old man's expression, he shrugged.

"You're going to have a hard time selling that here, even if you could get one of these rich snobs to see past the chipped paint and torn rigging." The old man held his gaze for a moment, then looked down, but not before Liam swore he caught a sheepish grin. "Unless that's your plan. You're hoping she doesn't sell, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, kid," the old man smirked and went back to sweeping. Liam lingered a moment longer before shoving his hands in his pockets and making his way back to the yacht. He couldn't blame the guy for wanting to hold on to his piece of freedom. Liam had never intended to sail around the world in the boat he built, but he always liked knowing it was possible. That someday he could sail out with the tide and leave it all behind.

Liam tried to stick with the plan. He made it through the shower before fatigue slammed into him. With a towel wrapped around his waist, water still dripping from his hair, he sat heavily on the bed. Exhaustion wore down his defenses and the prospect of going to school suddenly felt like torture. To see Annie and know how much he hurt her, but not be able to do a damn thing about it, was more than he could handle.

Sleep teased him, hovering on the blurry edges of his consciousness and the promise of relief from even simple thought won out over whatever meager desire he had to make it to school. The second his head hit the pillow, Liam was asleep and entering the peaceful oblivion where he didn't have to think about Annie. He didn't have to think about anything.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

More than half the day was gone when Liam finally rejoined the land of the living. Late afternoon sunlight poured through the picture window, hurting his eyes, and he groaned as he buried his face back in the pillow. Sleep had been blissful and free of dreams, but it only served to make consciousness more painful. The circumstances of his situation came back to him one at a time, like popping the stitches on a wound until it reopened completely.

Eventually, Liam came to full alertness and sat up on the king sized bed that dominated the luxury cabin. Out of habit, he reached toward the night stand where he always left his cell phone. A light blinked at him and he checked the call history. Ignoring the tiny stab of hope that he'd see Annie's name had become habit.

"Shit," he grumbled, eyeing the caller id. During the past eight hours Colleen had called five times and sent two text messages that negated any need to actually listen to his voice mail. The first message was simple and to the point. _School called. Call me. _Liam would have ignored it if not for the second message that had arrived only minutes before he woke.

_Call me or I call the police._

Liam stared at the impersonal digital display, trying to picture his mother actually uttering those words. The task was so difficult he had to admire her. Even at his worst, he hadn't been like some of the guys he knew, the ones who thought they were entitled to acting like assholes because the world was an unjust and fucked up place. He wasn't sure if that made him better or worse, but at least he understood that Colleen had given him freedoms he hadn't earned and as much as the woman made empty promises, her threats were real. They wouldn't come until late in the game, but when they did, she had proven more than once that she'd follow through. So, because he was also smart enough to know that he wouldn't be that hard to find if his mother really set her mind to it, he grudgingly scrolled through his contacts and punched the call button.

She answered almost immediately, intense relief contrasting with her threat of police action. "Liam. Finally."

"Hey mom," he greeted in return, trying to ignore the fact that hearing her voice actually made his vague feelings of missing her sharpen to a knife's point. "What's up?"

"I'd rather have that conversation in person."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather drive my car off a pier than go back to Jeffery's place, so that's not happening," Liam stated flatly.

"Okay. Neutral territory," she sighed. Colleen named a diner halfway between Jeffery's and the high school. "Please, Liam. We really need to talk."

Liam held the phone to his ear and closed his eyes. Pride and left over anger at his stepfather urged him to refuse, but Colleen had caught him at a vulnerable moment. When he'd left, he hadn't intended to never see her again. The part of him that had stayed through one disappointment after another needed to make sure she was okay. The rest of him just missed her.

"Fine," he agreed. "I'll be there."

* * *

After the final bell, Annie made her way gratefully to her locker. The day had been interminable, like four finals week Mondays all rolled into one. Every class dragged to the point where she swore she saw the clock actually go backwards. Her classmates and their gossip annoyed her, her teachers and assignments were tedious. Between school and her internship she was barely sleeping. On top of all that was Liam.

His appearances at school were growing more and more sporadic – or so she heard. His schedule had never matched hers and Annie had to rely on Ivy to keep her up to date on whether he showed up at surf practice. Somehow, he still had a spot on the team, but the coach was ready to boot him if he continued to no-show.

Day to day, hell, minute to minute, Annie's feelings never seemed to stay in one place long enough for her to make sense of them. Naomi hadn't so much as looked at her sideways in the halls since their meeting in the bathroom, but every time Annie saw the her former best friend she felt a little sick. Left over feelings of insecurity, no doubt, given that she believed Ivy's promise that Liam and Naomi hadn't rekindled their relationship. With her relationship effectively over, or at the very least on hold, the constant anxiety over Jasper's words had faded to the point where Annie was annoyed they'd bothered her in the first place.

Mostly, though, she just missed Liam. It started in the morning when she woke up, a dull ache that grew throughout the day until she couldn't fall asleep at night without shedding a few tears. At least once a day she caught herself reaching for her cell to text him or call him about the most random things, forgetting for a moment that they were…what? That was just one of many problems. The exhausting question that always had her putting the phone down and setting aside the thought for later. What were they now? In a fight? On a break? Broken up? The doubts plagued her to the point where – like now – Annie wondered fleetingly if all the stress was even worth it. What were their odds of surviving as a couple beyond high school anyway? She didn't know exactly, but she figured they weren't good and the notion of going through all this drama just to break up with him in nine months seemed pointless.

But the pain the idea of being without him brought momentarily took her breath away. Annie gripped the cool metal of her open locker door and blinked away hot tears. Pushing the thought aside, she automatically dug in her purse for her keys only to belatedly remember Dixon had them. Instead, she grabbed her cell.

"Mom," she said after Debbie picked up on the third ring. "Hey, I know this goes against the whole grounding thing, but Dixon needs the car today. He's got this special practice and for whatever reason he can't get a ride from anybody else."

"Well, I find that hard to believe," Debbie mused over the line.

"Yeah, I know, but please, just go with it," Annie sighed and unearthed her Sociology textbook from the bottom of her locker. "He tried to explain it to me, but I'm too tired to remember it all. And anyway, why am I the one having to do the explaining? I'm not grounded anymore. This is supposed to be his punishment."

"Annie, it's fine," her mother replied with a hint of a smile in her voice. "Do you need a ride to your internship?"

"No, that's the thing. Silver and I have this project due for Sociology, so I'm going to get a ride home from her," she explained, shutting her locker door and heading in the direction of the library where she promised to meet Silver. The route took her by Liam's locker and even though it was the same nondescript, industrial grey-blue as those surrounding it, the small rectangular door called out to her like a neon sign. She froze and after a moment, without thinking, she asked. "Mom, if you had it to do over, would you still have married Dad? Even knowing it was going to end?"

There was a long pause over the open connection during which Annie's face flamed as her incredibly personal words sunk in. "Oh, God, mom…I'm sorry. Forget I-."

"Of course I would," her mom interrupted with hollow cheer. "I got the two best kids on the planet out of the deal."

Annie rolled her eyes, but genuinely smiled. "That's cute, but that's not an answer."

"Well, it's true. Even if the two of you have given me more grey hairs in the past six months than in your entire lives combined," she grumbled. Annie waited, the silence between them full of expectation. Eventually her mother sighed and spoke quite calmly, almost completely hiding the tremor of tears. "Even knowing that it would end, I wouldn't change a thing."

"Why not?" she pressed. "If you could avoid all that drama and the broken heart…why not?"

"Because…Annie…you can't live your life in fear of what _might _happen," Debbie replied, incredulity clear in every word. "Even though your father and I didn't live happily ever after we had eighteen great years together and I cherish those memories. Where's this coming from, anyway? Does this have something to do with Liam's sudden vanishing act lately?"

Annie tore her gaze away from Liam's locker and took off down the hall at a brisk pace, her low heeled sandals clicking on the tiled floor with each step. "Nowhere. It's-nevermind. I've got to go, Mom. I'll see you later."

"Okay," her mother said uneasily. "Call me if you need a ride home."

"I've got it covered, but I will," Annie promised and ended the conversation. Her sluggish brain chugged back to life as she stowed her cell back in her purse and the quick steps turned into a run. In record time she blew through the doors of the library and impatiently scanned the tables until she found Silver's familiar crop of dark brown hair. In a frenzied whirlwind of books and pencils, she dropped her belongings and whispered to her wide eyed friend.

"I am an idiot."

* * *

Miraculously, Liam found parking across the street from the small but upscale restaurant Colleen had named. Killing the engine, he studied the 'diner' and rolled his eyes at title. Only in Beverly Hills could a diner boast valet parking. If he lived in Southern California for the rest of his life, he'd never get used to it.

The heat of the pavement soaked through the soles of his shoes as he dodged traffic and crossed the street. As much as he dreaded what was about to happen, he wanted to get it over with. One of the calls he'd missed during his eight hour coma had been from Trevor. He had another race to win that night and no matter what his mother threw at him there was no way he was missing out on adding another two grand to the six he'd already earned.

Inside, the diner was simple, but elegant. Booths lined the floor to ceiling glass walls that took up two sides of the building, while glass and chrome tables filled the open floor space. His mother had chosen a booth on the opposite side of the restaurant, facing the door. An immediate, but strained smile curved her lips the second she saw him. Seeing her again for the first time in weeks made Liam hesitate. For a brief moment, every fiber of his being so vehemently opposed crossing the black and white checked floor, he almost turned around and ran back to his car.

"Just get it over with," he muttered aloud. Drawing a deep breath, he shoved his hands in his pockets and forced his feet to move. To his relief, Colleen didn't rise to pull him into a hug, although from the white knuckle grip she had on the edge of the table it was taking all her restraint to keep her seat. He slid onto the hard, molded bench and tossed his phone on the table out of habit. Then he waited.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," Colleen said finally breaking the silence. She tried to hide it, but her anxious gaze as she took him in was hard to miss. "How are you?"

"Fine," he said, wincing internally at the hard edge to his voice. He wanted to be civil, but the blinding diamond on her ring finger reminded him all too clearly of why he'd left. "So, what's going on?"

A waiter arrived before she had a chance to respond. Colleen absently ordered iced tea while Liam shook his head. He didn't want any reason to stay past getting to the point. After the waiter left and his mother didn't immediately leap into an explanation, he prompted. "Mom?"

Across the table, his mother stared at him, biting her lip as tears filled her eyes. Liam shifted uncomfortably and picked at the white paper napkin ring holding the bundle of utensils together. Two minutes in and this was already worse than he had anticipated.

"I want you to come home," Colleen finally said in a shaky voice and his stomach twisted into a hard knot. "I need you to…I swear Jeffery won't-."

"Stop," he insisted without any regret at the ice in his tone. Until that point, he'd held his temper in check, but the mention of his stepfather's name sent him right back to the front yard the day of the earthquake and all the pain and disappointment that went with it. "I'm not talking about Jeffery or coming home. If that's what you called me here for, I'm gone."

"Liam-."

"I'm serious," he was breathing hard now in an effort to keep his voice down. The diner wasn't packed, but early birds had started to filter in and he had no desire to let them in on his own personal hell. "I'm not going back. Ever. Not if you promise Jeffery will leave me alone. Not if you promise you'll leave him. I'm through with your promises, mom. Keep pushing it and I'm gonna be through with you, too."

"No, Liam, wait," Colleen grabbed his arm. "That-that's not why I called. Okay? I'm sorry."

The waiter arrived just then and delivered Colleen's iced tea, giving Liam a second to calm down. When they were alone again, he folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow. "Why am I here?"

Colleen swallowed and ran a hand through her dark hair. Steeling her jaw, she mimicked his posture and met his eye. "Why am I getting calls from your school asking me why you're not in class?"

"Probably because I'm not there," he countered without missing a beat.

"And _why_ aren't you there?"

Liam glared. He'd walked right into that and given Colleen an opening to get to the important questions. The ones he didn't want to answer. The air conditioning in the diner was arctic, but he felt a cold sweat trickle down his spine. He could tell her the truth; that for the past two weeks he'd simply been drifting from one second to the next on a whim because taking the time to choose a path was too painful and too fraught with risk. That level of honesty was impossible without laying himself bare to the worst kind of vulnerability and he couldn't do that. So he held his mother's gaze for a moment before letting it wander toward the world passing them by on the boulevard outside.

Colleen's sigh of disappointment was so familiar that Liam had to swallow a bitter laugh. "So, we're back to this, huh? Skipping school…are you drinking again? Doing drugs? I can't believe Annie would be okay with that."

Liam looked at her sharply, deciding against honesty. "Annie…is my girlfriend, not my freaking babysitter."

"So she knows?" Colleen's brows rose incredulously. "I guess she's not as good an influence you as I thought."

"You know what, let's add Annie to the list of topics we're not talking about and you get the point," he insisted.

"God, Liam, the point should be obvious by now," she cried, loud enough to draw a few sidelong glances from the patrons at tables close enough to overhear. "I don't want you doing this. I don't want you going back to the way things were in New York and when we first came here. I want you home."

"Mom," he warned.

Colleen held up her hands. "But since I know…I know that's not going to happen. I at least want…no, I _need_ you to go to school. Before it's too late."

"Too late?" he parroted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She fell silent for a long time, starring at her clasped hands and Liam tried to remember how many other conversations they'd had just like this. He couldn't count the number of times he'd sat next to his mother and made her cry because she just couldn't understand why he had to do the things he did. With his only explanation being "because I wanted to", he had never been much help.

"You're going to be eighteen in a month," she said, fatigue and worry etched into every word. "You may not get it now, but after that…everything's different. The decisions you make, they're going to follow you forever. You…You're smart, Liam. So much smarter than anybody gives you credit for, but you're being so stupid."

"That's hilarious coming from you," he shot back. Colleen didn't even flinch at the pointed barb.

"I know I've disappointed you and I'm sorry for that," she continued. Looking up she waited until he met her gaze. "I'm actually glad you're not at home right now. Every time the school calls to report your absence Jeffery feels more vindicated and he's not quiet about it."

Liam's temper flared so hot and fast, he felt lightheaded. Sitting up straighter, he cleared his throat. "The point?"

"Go to school," she replied immediately. "Every day, all day or I will stop covering for you and let Jeffery sick the cops on you like he really wants. Get over or fix whatever it is that's pushing you back into that self-destructive kid he sent to bootcamp. Stop living down to his expectations and live up to your own. Right now, you're proving him right every day. That's the point."

Liam's pulse kicked up a few notches and it was suddenly difficult to draw a full breath. Colleen didn't wait for him to respond. The conversation was apparently over. He watched her, stunned, as she dug a few bills out of her wallet and left them on the table for her untouched iced tea. Without meeting his eye again, she slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses, slung her purse over her shoulder and left the diner. Liam sat in the booth, alone and abandoned, understanding for the first time what his mother had felt every time he turned his back on her.

* * *

Two hours after Annie's dramatic arrival, she and Silver finished their Sociology assignment. The quirky brunette ran her hands through her artfully disheveled hair and stretched. Annie felt her eyes on her as she gathered her books and shoved them into her backpack. The sun had continued its trek across the sky and the setting rays streamed through the windows on the west side of the building. While the crowd had thinned considerably, plenty of students were still scattered about, hunched over their work and oblivious to the passing of time.

"So," Silver prompted, folding her arms.

"So, what?" Annie countered, deliberately avoiding her friend's eye as she filed her notes back in their proper spot in a folder.

"So, you promised me that as soon as we finished this bitch of a paper, you'd explain why you decided you're an idiot," She leaned forward on the library table and rested her chin on her folded arms. "We're finished. Start talking."

Annie hesitated. The giddiness of revelation that had carried her into the library with such frenzy had faded during the time it took to hammer out the assignment. Now, the nagging second-guessing that had plagued her every move since Naomi's party was back. Silver's wide blue eyes were upon her, unwavering under the fluorescent glow of the lights.

"Why have you been so quiet about this whole…mess with Liam?" she asked. Not exactly an answer to Silver's question, but at least she'd been able to say his name. Out loud.

Her friend lifted her brows in surprise. "Um…because I can't tell you what to do."

"Since when?" Annie scoffed with a smile. "You do it all the time."

Silver rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe I'm growing as a person and trying not to stick my nose into other people's business."

"Silver."

"Fine," she raised her hands in submission and slumped back in the bulky library chair. "I told you what I thought you should do, remember?"

Annie did. Vividly. In fact, she could recall Silver's exact words after she'd spilled her guts and her tears. _Talk to him. Get the truth. _Through the sobs and hiccups of spent emotion, Annie had promised to do so, but one day led into the next and before she knew what was happening two weeks had passed. Liam certainly hadn't made things easy for her with his amazing disappearing act, but that was a lame excuse. She had his number. She knew where to find him.

"I should have listened to you," Annie sighed. "I should have called right then and figured things out instead of letting it turn into…_this." _

"It's got a life of its own now doesn't it," Silver nodded sagely. "It's bigger than just one unwanted kiss at a party."

"It always was," Annie admitted and before doubt got in the way, she plunged headlong into the winding series of events at the heart of the problem. Starting with the courthouse and Jasper and the way she'd tried so hard to prove her ex wrong she'd only given his words more power. Then on to Naomi and how it had fit so perfectly with Jasper's predictions even the logical truth couldn't make a dent in her despair. Silver listened silently, but her eyes grew wider with each word until Annie feared they might fall out of her head to the thin carpet below. When she got to the most recent development and confessed that she had started to wonder if salvaging the relationship was worth the inevitable pain, her friend waved her arms and broke her silence.

"Okay, okay, just…stop," Silver cried far too loudly for the sparsely populated library. The handful of students still frantically working paused long enough to look up from their books and glare. She didn't acknowledge them, but lowered her voice marginally. "I'm not even going to touch the fact that you failed to tell your best friend that you were trapped in a room with a psycho who tried to kill you and move on to the part where you actually _listened _to him? Are you as nuts as he is?"

"I know it was stupid," Annie tried, but Silver wasn't having any of it. The brightly colored bangles taking up half of each forearm clanked as she reached across the table and grabbed her arm.

"That is the understatement of the millennium," she said, her expressive eyes blazing with incredulity. "Jasper manipulated you for a year. From the moment you met him, he was trying to ruin your life. Stop letting him."

"It's not that easy," she protested, stung by Silver's blunter than usual words.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know why Liam's with me!" she finally cried. Unwanted tears burned her eyes and she blinked furiously to banish them away. She was so sick of crying.

Silver stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean, you don't know why?"

Annie drew a frustrated breath, searching for the words. "I'm not Naomi. Liam could have any girl he wanted-."

Silver raised a brow in challenge. "Uh, no he couldn't."

"You know what I mean," she pressed, undaunted by Silver's attempted joke. "There are plenty of girls who are…prettier than me, more adventurous than me…more _experienced _than me… I'm not his type, Silver. And it wasn't Jasper who pointed that out to me. I've always known it. During the summer, when it was just the two of us, it was easier to ignore. But now I can't stop thinking about it. What the hell is Liam Court doing with me?"

Silver stared, speechless, and released Annie's arm. The silent seconds stretched into a full minute and beyond, during which Annie tried to reign in her tumultuous thoughts. The outburst that had inspired this conversation had been liberating, a release from everything that had been weighing her down. She fought to get back to that feeling because what she had finally understood wasn't that she was an idiot for risking her heart by giving it to someone like Liam. She was an idiot for wondering why.

Before she could put that sentiment into words, however, Silver finally spoke. "Annie, no one can answer a question like that. If you look hard enough you're always going to find reasons why it shouldn't be. But Liam loves you. Even I had to finally admit that."

"I know," she agreed and the admission released the vice that had been clamped around her chest, trapping her lungs, her heart, and making each breath for the past two weeks a painful struggle. "I know he does – or at least did – and _that's_ why I am an idiot. I shouldn't have doubted that so easily."

Silver eyed her, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "So what are you gonna do about it?"

Annie hadn't thought about that. The huge step of getting over herself had been so impressive, she'd yet to move on to what came next. But her hand moved of its own accord and before she knew it, she had her cell phone and was scrolling through her contacts.

"Call him," she said, determined. "And fix this."


	15. Chapter 15

_AN: I am really, really sorry this took an inordinately long time. I didn't think it would. I guess the fact that I've been planning this chapter for months was a detriment. I had way too many different scenarios for how it could play out. I hope you enjoy the one I chose. ;p_

Chapter 15

Debbie Wilson took off her glasses and pressed her fingers to her aching eyes. For the past three hours she'd been staring at job postings in fields ranging from photo journalism to administrative assistant to clerk at a flower store. Somehow every single one that looked mildly appealing required skill sets she did not possess – even at the flower store.

"Divorce sucks," she muttered grumpily and stretched in her chair. All she wanted to do was figure out a way to keep the house until Dixon and Annie graduated from high school. After that, she'd have no problems selling it and looking for something smaller. In fact, she looked forward to it. Maybe with a new house she'd begin to believe that the prospect of a new chapter in her life wasn't just pretty words happily married friends placated her with. Sighing, she propped her chin in her hand and continued to surf the web.

After fifteen minutes that felt like thirty, salvation came in the form of a ringing cell phone. "Oh, I am so coming," she cried in relief, pushing away from the table and hurrying to her purse on the table by the front door. She scooped the noisome device out of the designated pocket and answered it just before it clicked over the voicemail. "Hello?"

"Debbie. It's Colleen."

"Hi," she replied, intrigued by the thinly veiled stress in her friend's voice. For better or worse, this was clearly more than a social call. "Something up?"

"I think Jeffery's finally dropping the good husband act," Colleen informed her. "The past weekend he claimed he had an out of town business trip, but I called the credit card company and the only charges for those three days were made here in Beverly Hills."

"That's bold," Debbie said, but she wasn't surprised. Nearly a month had passed since the earthquake, three weeks longer than she'd expected Jeffery's act to last. "I'm assuming you have a plan?"

Even through the phone line, she could hear Colleen's excited smile. "Have you ever gone on a stakeout?"

* * *

Liam felt like a stalker as he watched Naomi hold court by her locker with Stephanie and a couple of other girls he didn't recognize. They only had a few minutes to switch books and get to their next classes, but as always his ex didn't seem to think the rules applied to her. The warning bell rang and her entourage scurried off while Naomi took her time, double checking her makeup, assuring its perfection.

He didn't mind waiting. He'd made it to his first four classes on time and sat through all the boring lectures, outwardly a model student. Auto Shop was the one class he hadn't repeatedly skipped the past two weeks, so tardiness would only garner a disapproving look from his teacher. Finally, Naomi closed her locker door and twirled the lock for good measure before sauntering down the hall toward him, a half grin on her face that Liam was certain wouldn't be there when he was done talking to her.

Ducking around the corner, he waited for her to approach and promised himself that there was no other way to do this. No other way to ensure he and Annie had a real chance to work things out. When Naomi came into view she nearly tripped over him.

"L-Liam," she stammered, adjusting the strap of her purse higher on her shoulder. Swallowing, she tried to regain her easy confidence as well as the smile. "You're back."

"Did you miss me?" he countered drily.

"I barely noticed you were gone," she smirked haughtily. "Now, if you'll get out of my way, I'm late for class."

"You're going to be later," he promised and grabbed her arm when she tried to bypass him. Instantly, she jerked away, her eyes blazing with fear. Cursing himself, Liam held up his hands. "I just want to talk. We need to."

Naomi visibly struggled to regain her composure. After a quick glance around, she hissed. "I really think we said all we needed to say at the party. You stay out of my life, I'll stay out of yours."

Liam grinned without mirth and scoffed. "You really think I'll believe that?"

"I don't care what you think," Naomi returned, stepping closer. "You made it clear that you have no interest in me. Fine. I'm not going to make an ass of myself trying to seduce a guy I never really wanted back in the first place."

"See, I'd believe that if I didn't know what you did to Annie even after the party," Liam raised a brow. Naomi dropped her gaze.

"And this day was starting out so well," she grumbled, shoulders slumping. Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and huffed. "Okay, whatever. Let's get this over with."

Wordlessly, Liam opened the closest door and held it so Naomi could enter. The Blaze office was small, cluttered and empty. She stalked to the center of the room before turning around and gazing at him expectantly.

"Alright," she shrugged. "What?"

"You need to stay away from Annie," Liam shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the door.

Naomi's eyes narrowed. "Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yup," he nodded.

"Then what makes you think I'll listen this time?"

"Because this time I have leverage," Liam pushed off the door and took a few deliberate steps in her direction. There was no satisfaction in this declaration. In fact, what he was about to say made him feel a little sick and he had to remind himself that this wasn't a game. He wasn't toying with Naomi or taking advantage of what had happened to her. She was in complete control over how things played out. "I'm going to do whatever I have to to get Annie back…and if you come between us again I'm breaking my promise."

The silence was thick and smothering. Naomi's tan skin paled several shades, but still she played dumb. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean," he said softly. His words lingered in the second silence that followed. Naomi's gaze drifted and she stared at the dust motes dancing in the sunbeams streaming through the half closed blinds. Eventually, she licked her lips and dashed away an errant tear with trembling fingers.

"You can't do that," she murmured quietly, but with an intensity that twisted the knot in his stomach even tighter. "You can't tell anybody about the rape. You-you promised. Even if you hate me now you can't be that cruel."

"I don't hate you, Naomi," Liam said, standing his ground. "But I'm lying to everybody for you. I'm lying to Annie. Besides, if you don't want me back what difference does it make? Just leave her alone and your secret is safe."

Naomi blinked furiously and stared at the ceiling, stubbornly refusing to cry in front of him. He waited, outwardly patient, but inside his heart was racing. He'd spent most of the night trying to figure out what he wanted to do. Colleen's threat had hit home, but it was a text from Annie that had made the decision. For the past two weeks, he hadn't just been running, he'd been treading water and slowly the weight of his mother's betrayal, the truth about Cannon and losing Annie had been drowning him. Liam was done carrying it all on his own.

Eventually, Naomi reigned in her emotions enough to mutter. "Whatever. Are we done now?"

"Almost," he replied with a preemptive wince.

"God, seriously?" Naomi exploded and met his eye for the first time in minutes. "What next, more threats?"

Liam ignored her spike of anger and continued unfazed. "Did you know that Silver is working with Cannon on her senior project? He's her advisor."

Naomi stared at him blankly for a solid minute. Then she shook her head violently, her mouth working but no sounds coming. Finally, she stammered. "No. No, she can't. She can't. Cannon's a monster, Cannon will-"

"Then you've got to tell her," he insisted, delivering the last blow.

"She hates me, Liam," Naomi cried, rushing toward him and grabbing his arm. Panic emanated from her in waves. "She'll never believe me."

"Then let me tell her. I can-."

"What? No," she cried, leaving no room for argument. She snatched her hand away and ran it through her hair, ruining the carefully arranged curls. "No, I…I'll figure something out, just forget about it."

Liam tried to touch her, to let her know he'd help if she let him. "Naomi-."

"Look, I promise I'll leave Annie alone," she snapped, yanking away viciously when he touched her shoulder. Liam held up his hands and stepped back. "And I'll take care of Silver."

He watched from the doorway as she ran down the deserted halls, heels clicking over the hard floor. Wearily, he closed the door to The Blaze offices and set off in the opposite direction. He'd accomplished what he'd set out to do. Whatever Naomi did, Silver wouldn't be facing a monster alone and he and Annie could figure things out without waiting for his ex's next scheme. The whole mess was no longer sitting on his shoulder, but the guilt still swamped him.

As he worked on the engine of a totaled '94 Honda Accord that had been donated to the school, Liam tried to put the confrontation with Naomi behind him. He could only help as much as she'd let him and he refused to share a secret that wasn't his. After what they'd had together, he believed he owed her that at least. Gradually, the soothing familiarity of working on an engine took over everything else. He even managed to forget for a few moments that an even bigger challenge was waiting for him after school.

* * *

The West Beverly High parking lot was quiet moments before the final bell rang. Students sat at their desks, anxiously watching the clock crawl slowly toward the golden hour of three o'clock. A typical gorgeous southern California day waited for them outside the confines of the classroom. Even the teachers were looking forward to the end of the day.

For Annie, the anticipation was greater than her patience. With fifteen minutes to go, she snuck out of calculus, stopped at her locker and darted out to the parking lot. Silver had a free period at the end of the day that she usually used to work on her senior project, but today other plans had taken precedence.

"I was afraid you were going to chicken out," Silver chided when Annie joined her, slightly winded, by Liam's car. "I was all ready to bust into your class and fake some sort of episode so you could pretend to take me to the nurse. "

"I kind of wish you would have," Annie laughed, but her stress bled through. Turning toward the bright orange Judge, she bit her lip. "Do you really think he'll come?"

"That's what the text said, right?" Silver reminded her, tucking a short lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. "And anyway, you're waiting by his car. He's not going to have a choice but to talk to you."

Annie nodded absently, her stomach a mass of knots and butterflies. All day she'd been on edge with anticipation, then during Spanish she'd looked out the window and seen Liam's car in its usual spot. Her stomach had flipped, dropped down to her shoes and for the rest of the school day she'd been utterly useless.

"I still want to know why it took him until 4:17 in the morning to text you back," Silver muttered, folding her arms and glaring at the low-riding beast as if it might hold the answers.

"I'm just glad he got back to me at all," Annie replied, knowing full well how pathetic it sounded and not caring in the least. When she'd called Liam the night before, his phone had been off and when the tone signaled her to leave a message her throat had dried up and tongue-tied couldn't even begin to describe her reaction. What was she supposed to say after two weeks of zero contact? Hastily and despite Silver's whispered protests, she'd punched the button to end the call. Her best friend wouldn't let her off the hook so easily, though, and twenty minutes later Annie pushed 'send' on a carefully worded text message asking him to meet her after school the next day. That they needed to talk. She had wanted to add that she missed him and had been an idiot and let this whole mess get blown way out of proportion, but clearer heads prevailed.

"It's a text message, not a novel," Silver had chided in the library. "Save something for when you, ya know, actually _see _him."

Almost the entire night had gone by without a response and when Liam finally texted her back in the early hours before dawn and agreed to meet her, Annie had been weak and giddy with relief for a few precious moments until a new concern inevitably took center stage.

"I still don't know what to say," she whined now and began pacing the length of the car, her flat gladiator sandals scraping on the heated asphalt.

"Announcing to the library that you're an idiot certainly made me sit up and pay attention," Silver caught Annie's eye and winked, earning a grin. "Seriously, though, just tell him the truth. He'll understand. And in case you've forgotten, Liam's not some kind of victim here. He _did _make out with his ex and you did happen to see it."

"I don't know if that counts when it was all a set up."

"Oh, trust me. It does," she raised a brow and shot another menacing look at the car, as if Liam were there to feel her wrath. "He may have had to break Naomi's arms but he probably could have kept her lips off his face."

"I thought you _wanted _me to forgive him!" Annie cried, amused but still queasy at the mental image burned on her brain of what she'd witnessed at that party.

"I do! I swear, I do," Silver insisted. "But all this helping Liam gives me hives so I have to at least pretend that I still hate him."

Annie rolled her eyes, but smiled gratefully. "Thank you for waiting with me."

"Like I said, I was afraid you'd back out and knowing you two I'll be 80 before either one of you works up the guts to try this again," she replied with a dramatic sigh. The grin that followed was genuine and she placed a cool hand on Annie's shoulder before adding. "You're welcome."

The last bell finally rang, a muted peal emanating from within the brick and mortar building. Annie sucked in a breath, her feet lumps of immobile lead, and she stared at Silver in wide-eyed panic. "Oh, god, I don't think I can do this."

"Yes, you can," her friend insisted. "It's just Liam, remember?"

"Right," Annie said slowly and with little conviction.

"I'm going to get out here, but text me if you need me, okay?" Silver waited for Annie to soundlessly nod before heading back toward the school. The exodus was at its height and she actually had to push her way around her fellow students. Annie closed her eyes and turned around, inwardly cursing the panic getting stuck at the back of her throat. How stupid, pathetic even. This was _Liam, _not some stranger. She could tell him anything. He was her best friend.

"Annie."

Her body went rigid and she was rooted to the spot as if her feet had shot deep into the asphalt. The sound of Liam's voice directly behind her undid the knots in her stomach and tied brand new ones. Swallowing and still at a loss for words, Annie eventually turned around.

Two weeks was a long time to go without seeing someone she was used to seeing every day. Her gaze traveled all over him, assessing from head to toe and she felt a small, but significant measure of relief when she noted that he seemed to be in one piece. Dressed in a plain black t-shirt and faded jeans, Liam clutched some books in one hand. With the other, he tapped a pen against his thigh with nervous energy that was Annie's only clue that there was more going on behind the patented cool intensity of his expression.

"Hi," she said on an exhalation of air that stretched the word out into two syllables. Gesturing nervously at his car with her clasped hands, she said the first thing that came to mind in order to avoid gawking at him like a tourist at the Hollywood sign. "You…came to school today."

Her words broke the paralyzing spell of silence between. A ghost of a familiar smirk curved Liam's lips as dug his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the Judge. "Yeah. My mom threatened to call the cops if she got another phone call from the principal. Jeffery would have loved it."

"Well, we can't have that," she replied absently as he tossed the books in the backseat. Annie leaned against the car, her mind racing for a viable place to start while random nonsense continued to spill from her lips. "I'm glad Colleen convinced you to come back. You need to graduate. I mean, you made it to senior year, it would be stupid to quit now. Don't tell Ade, but I always thought she made such a mistake dropping out of school to tour with Javier. Of course, I guess it turned out okay…well, not _okay. _It's obviously not okay that Javier _died_, but Ade's career seems to be taking off at least, so…so…"

"Annie?"

"Yes?" she replied, mentally kicking herself for the ridiculous ramble and grateful Liam had finally put a stop to it. He braced his arms on the roof of the car and stared at his clasped hands.

"I want you to know… that I'm sorry. Not just for Naomi. For everything," he confessed, frowning at an imaginary imperfection in the paint and wiping it away with his thumb. Annie almost couldn't hear him through the blood rushing to her head. She'd imagined this conversation so many times the reality of actually having it left her breathless. Liam turned his head, just enough to look at her. Up close she could see the shadows under his eyes and the weary set of his jaw. Clearly exhausted, his words and tone spoke of someone who had no time left for pride and nothing left to lose. "These past two weeks sucked. I miss you and I…it hurts. I want you back. But I know I hurt you, too and…if-if you're not ready or can't trust me or whatever, I-I get it."

"You did hurt me," she admitted with difficulty. The obvious pain behind his words made her ache to fix it with immediate assurances that really, this was all her fault, but Silver had made a good point. Annie deserved an apology just as much as Liam. Glossing over truths sent them down this messy path in the first place. Tentatively, she put her hand on his bicep, the need for some form of contact too powerful to ignore. "But I miss you, too and I do trust you, Liam. No matter what, I should have let you explain instead of pushing you so far away."

"Why didn't you?" he asked, blue eyes clouded with a hint of accusation that exposed how deep his pain went. Stubbornly, he kept his arms planted on the roof, palms flat on the surface. "Did you really think I could cheat on you like that?"

The steady stream of students exiting the school was slowly tapering off. Annie's gaze followed them for a moment as she wrestled with how to explain. Naomi would be easy. Liam knew her tricks better than anybody. Jasper was another story and Annie despised the idea of even saying his name. Liam would be beyond upset to know that she'd been trapped in a room, alone, with her ex, let alone that she had allowed his lies to poison their relationship. Worse, it would be another win for Jasper, another way he'd messed with not just her life, but Liam's as well and that was far too much power to grant someone who didn't matter anymore.

"You want the truth?" Annie asked, trying to ignore the way her entire body wanted to curl into his. Of course, Liam nodded. This was risky. It might be too much too soon, but if she wouldn't give Jasper the satisfaction of invading her life again, the least she could do is admit to the truths, already a part of her, that he'd awakened. She drew a breath and struggled to speak above a whisper. "You…us…it scares me."

His arm tensed beneath her fingers and just as she'd expected, Liam started to pull away. His eyes morphed from warm blue to ice. "I scare you?"

"Not like you think," she promised him quickly, truthfully. "I'm not…afraid to be around you or of your reputation or your past. I'm afraid…I _was _afraid because seeing you with Naomi just reminded me of all the reasons we're the hottest gossip as West Bev. Even now, when we've been apart for two weeks, it's all anybody talks about."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not Naomi," Annie shrugged helplessly, wishing there was a better way to explain that didn't make her sound like a needy, pathetic loser. "I'm not wild or dangerous or exciting or _experienced, _but I love you so much and that scares me, too. I got caught up in…in wondering why. In trying to figure out why you were with me and being who I thought you wanted. I obsessed about it so much I forgot what mattered."

Liam stared at her with narrowed eyes, a slight frown furrowing his brow. She wanted to look away, to protect her heart from his probing gaze, but she kept her focus stubbornly on his face. Finally, he pushed off the car and faced her. The hand on his arm traveled down the length of it and she thought she would lose contact altogether. At the last moment, he caught her fingers, twining them with his. He licked his lips and started to speak once, twice before he finally decided what to say. "What-what matters, Annie?"

"You already know me," she said with an amazed laugh. How could it have taken her so long to figure this out? Or maybe she'd always known and just needed to remember. "You knew my darkest secrets and had seen me at my worst before we even had our first kiss."

Liam's features softened, although he still regarded her with a wary expression. The corner of his mouth hooked just slightly upwards. "So, basically, you're saying I already knew what I was getting into."

"More or less," she shrugged, holding back a smirk as the tight fist of anxiety loosened in her stomach. Daring a little more, she reached for his other hand. "You know _everything_ and love me anyway. At least you did. If the way I acted changed that-."

"It didn't," he promised and cutting her off in one swift motion, pulling her closer. The soles of her sandals slapped against the pavement as she tripped over her feet at the unexpected move and nearly careened into his chest. Not that she really would have minded. She missed that chest and all the strength and protection that came with it.

Breathless with a new and much more favorable type of anticipation, she lifted her gaze to his, taking a slight detour at his lips. Liam held her, their hands trapped between their bodies and gave her the shortest of seconds to balk, pull away, or do anything to stop him. By that time Annie wanted Liam to kiss her so badly they could have been engulfed in flames and she wouldn't have cared.

"I love you. I never stopped," he murmured, taking in every line, every curve of her face. Involuntarily, Annie closed her eyes, the lashes fluttering as his breath caressed her lips. She tried to return the sentiment, but the words got lost as his mouth found hers and suddenly the world _was _on fire. Liam released her hands and every place he touched her through the flimsy white sundress radiated heat. Shouting students, revving engines, the peel of tires burning on the asphalt…all of it faded into nothing as she got lost in the kiss. Screw apologies. When she fought her way past all the bullshit, this is what mattered. Liam's arms around her, holding her close, making her melt. Greedily, she framed his face pulled him closer, kissing him back with everything she had.

When they finally parted, Annie's was trapped between Liam and the Judge, her back pressed against the sun warmed window. One of his hands was buried in her hair, the other firmly around her waist to hold her body flush to his.

"So, can we be done with this whole not speaking, not seeing each other thing?" he asked, one eyebrow raised in that cocky way that made her want to punch him and kiss him again all at once. But his fingers traced her lips almost reverently and she could feel his pulse racing beneath her hand on his chest.

"Well, I don't know about speaking, but I want to _see _a whole lot of you very, very soon," she promised, pulling him in for another scorching kiss.

"What was that about not being exciting?" Liam teased when they came up for air. Annie blushed, feeling the burn to the roots of her hair and she realized she had even missed _that_ the past two weeks without him.

The student parking lot was quiet now and for the first time something other than Liam crossed her mind. "Yeah, well, this exciting girl is going to be late for her very boring internship if she doesn't get going."

Liam groaned and dropped his head to her shoulder. Annie giggled and bit back a moan when he pressed kiss to her shoulder, working his way up her throat to eventually whisper in her ear. "Are you sure?"

Annie couldn't think straight enough to answer, so she dragged his lips back to hers, kissing him slowly and savoring every taste. The longer they stood there, wrapped up in each other's arms and ignoring the rest of the world, the more complete she felt. Every hurt, small and large, was being healed by his lips as they caressed her jaw, his teeth as it scraped her bottom lip and his tongue as it dueled with hers.

"Forget it," she murmured, gasping as he paid attention to the sensitive spot just behind her ear.

"What?"

"I said forget it," Annie gently pulled him back to meet her eye. "The only place I want to be tonight is with you."

"Climb in," he smiled softly, reaching behind her to open the driver's side door. Annie kissed him quickly and eagerly slid across the bench seat to make room, but only enough to let him fit behind the wheel.

Liam settled into the driver's seat, pausing with the key at the ignition. His expression contemplative. "You're wrong, you know."

Annie ran her fingers through his hair, loosely settling on the nape of his neck. "About what?"

"You _are_ dangerous," he said with a slow sly grin. "Naomi never got me shot."

"Oh, my god."

"Or arrested," he continued, laughing as she gave in and punched him playfully on the arm. "Ow."

"Am I ever going to live that down?" she demanded incredulously, curling up on the seat so her knees pressed against his thigh.

"Sure. About the same time the rest of the school forgets about it," he said.

"Ah, so that's be never," she groaned as he finally started the car and revved the engine. Her gaze swept the expanse of the empty parking lot and wondered how many of her classmates had seen their reunion. "Everybody's going to be talking about us again now."

Liam raised a brow and turned to her fully. "You ready for that?"

"Yeah," she smiled after a moment and leaned in closer. Framing his face with her hands she pressed a kiss to his lips. "Let them talk. As long as I have you, I don't care what anybody says."

* * *

"It's about freaking time."

Silver watched with a satisfied grin as Liam's unsightly orange excuse for a car pulled out of the parking lot. She had no idea where Annie and Liam were going and she didn't particularly care. They were together and if the oblivious-to-the-world way they'd been making out was any indication they were over their stupid break up and life for her best friends could return to normal.

And by best friend, Silver of course meant Annie. Not Liam.

With a melodramatic shudder, she began the trek across the empty campus to the smaller lot where she left her Vespa. The sight of another unexpected voyeur, however, stopped her from taking another step.

"Naomi," she said in surprise. Following the other girl's line of sight she realized they'd both been watching Liam and Annie ride off into the sunset. Judging by the sour expression on her former friend's face, she was less enthusiastic about the development. Silver put her hand on her hip, unable to resist the opportunity to rub it in. "Liam and Annie got back together. Guess you failed. Now, why don't you stay the hell away from them and get on with your life."

"What is it about Annie Wilson that inspires such fierce loyalty?" Naomi asked, her tone even and controlled. Not what Silver expected. "If you could bottle that every boutique on Rodeo would want to carry it."

"Annie's a good person," she replied. Her indignation dropped a notch at Naomi's unnaturally subdued response.

"Right," Naomi smirked and finally looked at her. "You didn't think so a year ago. Remember that? A year ago, Annie was the heartless bitch."

Silver wasn't moved by the trip down memory lane. "Annie was just fighting back after you accused her of sleeping with Liam."

"And that means she's off the hook for everything," Naomi sneered. "I forgot."

"You know, whatever, Naomi," Silver held up her hands in surrender. "Just leave her and Liam alone. And me while you're at it."

Turning on her heel, she set off briskly across the concrete sidewalk, shoulder bag bouncing smartly on her hip. Before she was out of earshot, Naomi called.

"Silver, wait!"

Sighing at her weakness, she slowed, but didn't stop. When the other girl caught up, she snapped. "What?"

"How's your senior project going?" the blonde asked in a rush, eyes wide and a genuine smile curving her lips. All indications of their previous conversation had vanished.

Silver frowned. "Fine. Why?"

"Well, I was…was wondering if I could help," Naomi stammered, the grin so wide Silver feared her face might crack.

"What?"

"I was wondering if I could help," Naomi repeated. Silver watched her carefully as she fumbled for her words, positive she was lying, but unsure why and to what purpose. "I haven't figured out what I want to do for my senior project yet and…I thought if I…helped you, maybe I'd…be inspired."

"I don't need any help," Silver assured her.

"But-."

"Naomi, no," she interrupted, backing away. "I don't know what angle you're working now, but I meant what I said. I want you out of my life."

Without waiting for a response, Silver took off and was grateful that this time, she wasn't followed. Part of her missed the friendship she'd so recently repaired with her childhood friend. The other part was just grateful to be untangled from all that drama.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Kelly Taylor had a bright yellow robot on her desk.

Perched on the edge of a really ugly chair, Naomi stared at it with bemused fascination while her guidance counselor went over paperwork. The molded plastic and metal action figure had wheels sticking out from its legs and shoulder blades and doors for wings. She recognized it from that Transformers movie, but couldn't recall its name. The only thing she remembered about that movie was that Fergie's husband and Tyrese made dirt and camo look good and Megan Fox's abs were totally overrated. She hadn't seen the sequel.

Naomi assumed the toy belonged to Kelly's son Sammy, but she couldn't figure out how it ended up on her desk, displayed prominently beside a nameplate and a kitschy coffee mug/pencil holder from the San Diego Zoo. Framed posters of boring beachscapes mixed with high end, glossy Japanese fashion magazines clashed on the beige walls. The carpets were the same ugly commercial grade that blanketed the rest of the school. Eyeing the desk again, Naomi was fairly certain there wasn't a splinter of actual wood anywhere in the cheap piece.

"You should really get an interior designer in here," she mused, reveling in the momentary distraction from her true business. "It's pretty much…completely wrong. I mean, forget the paint and those cheap blinds, it's like whoever arranged it didn't even _consider _feng shui."

Kelly glanced up from the documents littering her desk and raised a brow. "I'll keep that in mind, Naomi."

"Well, if you want, I could give you the number of the guy who did my sister's place," Naomi reached for her purse and retrieved her seldom used day planner out of the bottom. "I know I have his card here somewhere. I was going to have him remodel my bedroom, but I haven't gotten around to it. You know, you'd think a three month vacation in Europe would be the most relaxing thing ever, but there's so much to catch up on when you get back."

"Naomi, that's…really nice of you, but I think we should address why you're actually here," Kelly replied, holding up the advisor request form Naomi had presented her with. Naomi wilted into the chair and placed her purse on the floor with a heavy thump while Kelly ran her eyes over the paper she'd already been studying. "Why do you want to switch advisors?"

_To keep your sister and my former best friend from being raped by Mr. Cannon_, she thought darkly. Out loud, she shrugged. "I don't think Miss Linski and I have…compatible visions."

"Miss Linski did a summer internship with Vogue and has an undergrad minor in fashion design," Kelly pointed out, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You specifically requested her as your advisor last fall as soon as you found out she'd started here. Six months before your classmates even started thinking about it."

Naomi's already low spirits sank even lower remembering how excited she'd been at the prospect of working with someone who had actually _been _to Fashion Week. "I realize that, but…over the summer my interests changed. Like I said, Europe. It broadened my, um, horizons. I…really like film, now, and Mr…Cannon is the right person to…advise me. In that."

Kelly observed her shrewdly for a moment, making it very difficult for Naomi to sit still in the uncomfortable chair. "Okay. Let's say I agree. Will Mr. Cannon?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your accusations put his career in serious jeopardy last year," Kelly said, not unkindly, and held out the unsigned request form to for Naomi to take.

"But I…" she swallowed, nearly choking on the words. "I told the truth. That I made it up."

"I know, but I still need Mr. Cannon to sign off on the request," she explained with an apologetic smile. "That's not going to be a problem, is it? I mean, I'm assuming the two of you have come to terms with what happened."

"Come to terms," Naomi repeated, staring at the sheet of paper. Her hands trembled slightly and she laughed breathlessly. There was no reason why she couldn't get Cannon's signature. If she planned on having him for an advisor, she might as well get used to talking to him now. Staring at the request form, she toyed with the reckless idea that she could just tell Kelly the truth. Aside from the whole situation totally being guidance counselor territory, Silver was her sister. She'd have to believe her, right?

Wretched disappointment cut through her just as the first sparks of hope flared in her heart. Naomi had known Kelly her whole life and that worked both ways. Every horrible thing Naomi had ever done to Silver, to anybody at West Beverly, probably, was on Kelly's radar twice over. She forced a smile that felt more like a grimace. "Right. Of course we have. A signature will be…no problem at all."

"Great," Kelly grinned and reached for the nearest stack of files. "When he gets back from his leave of absence, just have him sign that and you can make it official."

Naomi's heart leapt to her throat. "Leave of absence? What leave of absence? Where did-I thought he was back full time this year!"

"He is. Technically," Kelly explained, looking suddenly confused. "Didn't he tell you he was taking nine weeks off when you discussed the advisor switch?"

Naomi blinked, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Her brain was stuck and kept repeating the phrase 'nine weeks off' in her head like a broken record. Cannon was gone. For nine weeks. Even though it would be over far too soon, in that moment it felt like a lifelong reprieve.

"Yes, yes of course he told me. I-I just forgot what with all the forms and paperwork and…more forms. Listen, I've really got to go," she exclaimed, smiling so wide she feared her face might crack. Jumping unsteadily to her feet on her three inch heels, she nearly tripped across the carpet to the door. "I don't want to be late for my next class. Thank you, Ke-I mean, Ms. Taylor."

With the door securely closed behind her, Naomi made quick work of the advisor request, ripping it into tiny pieces and throwing it in the nearest trash can. Relief made her dizzy while revulsion at what she'd been planning to do twisted her stomach and bile burned the back of her throat.

"Nine weeks," she muttered to nobody as she stalked down the halls. Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her chin and smiled grimly. "I can come up with a plan in nine weeks. I'm Naomi Clark. I make plans in my sleep."

* * *

During lunch, Liam took advantage of the downtime and crashed on the couch in the lounge just off the cafeteria. Moonlighting as an illegal street racer was a hell of a lot harder when he actually showed up for class. He was so exhausted, despite Navid and Dixon's incredibly passionate (and loud) discussion on some comic book character he'd never heard of, he actually dozed off.

A short time later that felt like seconds, but was probably fifteen minutes at least, he was dragged back to consciousness by the soft and very familiar scent of perfume and an even more familiar brush of lips against his. He didn't move or open his eyes, but he could feel her after she'd pulled away. Hovering, close.

"That better not be Dixon," he warned.

"You're funny when you're half asleep," Annie chuckled, kissing him again. Liam pushed off the cushions, following her lips and keeping the connection when she threatened to break away. One arm snaked around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. Her muffled cry of protest morphed quickly into a soft sigh as she settled comfortably in his arms. Liam reveled in the contradiction. She wasn't just letting him kiss her in the middle of the busiest intersection in the entire school; she was kissing him back with equal enthusiasm and little care for whoever saw them.

Annie barely moved when the kiss ended. One hand fell naturally to his chest and she kept the other around his neck, dragging her nails lightly up and down the nape. Something was different between them since their two weeks apart. Easier. Like the air in his lungs had been slowly freezing and all at once it thawed and he could breathe. Liam brushed her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trail through the silky strands. Her face was flushed and he smirked because there was still that part of her that wanted to be shy. Stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that he could still make her squirm, Annie raised a brow. "Late night? I know it wasn't me keeping you awake."

"How do you know?" he replied, the smirk widening to a grin as he let his gaze fall to her lips and linger there. "You're always on my mind."

"Well, then you should have called me and I could have been in your bed, too," she countered, leaning in and giving him another kiss that hinted at what would have happened if he had.

"I thought about it," he admitted, settling deeper into the couch cushions and taking Annie with him. Behind her, Silver had joined Dixon and Navid. Their classmates continued to mill around them, but as far as Liam was concerned, he and Annie were the only two who existed.

Now, she pretended to be offended. "And you _didn't _call?"

"I was doing homework. Apparently, they still expect you to turn in your assignments when you skip school for no reason," he explained and it was almost completely true. Liam had been up until four in the morning finishing a reading assignment for English Lit, the catch being he could have finished it eight or nine hours earlier if he'd skipped a the race. But he didn't want to think about that. Her already short navy skirt had ridden up even higher when he pulled her onto his lap and now he traced circles on the exposed skin of her bare thigh. "You would have distracted me."

Annie grinned triumphantly, taking the comment like a badge of honor. He couldn't help returning the gesture, getting lost in the warmth of her chocolate brown eyes, reading the absolute trust there. Seeing that trust was like poking a whole in the balloon that was his happiness. It didn't pop, but he could feel the flaw and there was no escaping the inevitable. Liam needed to tell Annie about the street racing. He'd thought about it constantly since they got back together. Keeping the secret was becoming increasingly difficult. He'd yet to feed her an outright lie, but the fine line he'd been treading was getting thinner and thinner.

But the time to confess with minimal damage had come and gone, lost in the heady relief of those moments by his car when he realized that he hadn't lost Annie forever. The street racing had barely crossed his mind that afternoon and it had been easy in the days that immediately followed to shove the thought aside, even though on some level he'd known he was just making it worse.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Annie's fingers were toying with his hair and she tugged on it just hard enough to get his attention.

"Sorry," he stifled a yawn that wasn't just for effect and shifted her a little on his lap.

"Wow, you are seriously out of it," she marveled and went back to the nearly hypnotizing caress. "I was wondering who your senior advisor was. You never told me."

The phrase coupled with Silver's sudden laugh at something Navid said, made Liam tense and sit up straighter. "I haven't picked one yet," he admitted absently and before Annie could exhibit her concern, he continued. "Is Silver still with Cannon?"

"Um, yeah," Annie frowned, glancing over her shoulder at their other friends. "Why? Did you suddenly develop and interest in film making?"

"No," he replied immediately. _Dammit, Naomi, _he fumed. How long would she wait to tell her? "I was just curious."

"Well, that's for the best," she shrugged. "Apparently, Cannon's documentary made it into some film festivals and he's on leave. You couldn't ask him to be your advisor anyway until like, Christmas. Now Mr. Matthews, on the other hand, would probably be happy to take you."

The casual revelation that Cannon was gone hit Liam like a blow and he fell back against the cushions. Silver was safe and he hadn't had to break his promise to Naomi. At least for the time being. Like putting off the street racing, eventually Cannon would be back and they'd have to deal with it, but for the moment he enjoyed the relief. Then the rest of Annie's words registered. "Mr. Matthews. As in _your_ advisor?"

"Maybe," she grinned slyly, stretching her arm along the back of the couch and leaning over him. Her hair fell around her shoulders, a dark reddish brown curtain blocking out the rest of the lounge. "Wouldn't it be nice to have one class together our senior year? Even if it only meets once a week."

"Well, when you put it that way," Liam dropped his gaze to her full lips, traced them with a finger before capturing her mouth with his and indulging in her completely.

The warning bell rang and with a groan he relinquished his hold so Annie could slide off his lap. He watched her straighten her skirt and smooth away imaginary wrinkles. As much as it made him feel like a tool, he had to admit it would be awesome to be able to walk _with_ her to class instead of the opposite direction. Chagrined, he rolled his eyes and kissed her one more time.

"Hey, Sis!" Dixon bounded up and slung an arm around Annie's shoulders. "Can I have the car after school? Ivy's jeep broke down. Again."

"I have to go to my internship," she reminded him, although from the impatience in her voice she clearly didn't think she should have to. "And as of this morning, you're still grounded. Why am I the one who keeps having to remind you?"

Dixon cursed and flashed his best grin at Liam. "Dude. Help a brother out?"

"Ah, no," Liam turned him down flat. "No, I gave up driving with you until you get your license back. It's for your safety, trust me. I might kill you."

"That's cold, man," Dixon's face fell and he shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. How about I take Annie to her internship and you take yourself wherever you have to go," he offered, pulling his girlfriend out from under Dixon's arm and slipping his own around her waist.

"I think that's a fantastic idea!" Dixon replied immediately and held out his hands for the keys. Annie muttered something about giving in to the big baby, but she detached her house keys and handed over the single key to the Saturn. She rolled her eyes as her brother chased down the hall after Navid.

"Meet you by your locker after school?" Liam offered.

Annie craned her neck to gaze up at him. "Have I told you today how much I love you?"

"It might have come up," Liam said, shifting his arm to her shoulders and pulling her to his chest as they slowly made their way out of the lounge. He whispered in her ear. "I love you, too."

When they had to part ways, Annie stood on her toes to kiss him and headed down the hallway with Silver. Liam watched her disappear into the mass of students before he took off in the other direction and made a quick stop at his locker. With Annie momentarily out of reach, other thoughts that he'd been able to keep at bay took precedence. His body ached with fatigue and he had serious doubts he'd make it through the rest of the day without passing out at his desk. Books in hand, he closed the locker with a sigh and started pushing his way slowly through the throng. Unlike the rest of his classmates, he wasn't in a hurry to sit on his ass doing nothing for the next forty-five minutes. Halfway there, Teddy caught up with him.

"How's the training going?" Liam asked after offering a perfunctory greeting. Honestly, he had no idea what tennis event his friend might be training for, but it was Teddy and it was a safe bet he was training for something.

"Brutal," Teddy admitted, falling into step next to him. "But no pain, no gain, right?"

Liam snorted. "If you say so, man. They continued in silence for a moment.

"Hey, by the way…I'm glad you and Annie worked things out," Teddy said suddenly. Liam looked at him askance for all of a half second before he laughed.

"Let me guess, Silver wouldn't shut up about it, right?"

"Oh my god," he groaned. "It was like last year when she was obsessed with The Hills and watched the entire series in a month. Except this time she kept trying to get me to _do _something instead of just putting me in a coma with her running commentary."

Liam shook his head and wondered how long it would have taken Teddy to give in out of sheer desperation. And what he would have done. "There wasn't really anything you could have done, man. We just needed to work it out."

"That's what I kept telling her," Teddy replied, then shrugged. "But you know Silver."

"Yeah," he agreed, struck by a new question. Since Liam was keeping the street racing from her, had they really worked it out? Or was it just a temporary fix? He trusted her explicitly. Annie was the only person in the world he could trust. So why couldn't he find the words to tell her what he'd been doing when he wasn't in school? Of course, she hadn't asked, but was that really an excuse? "Have you ever…kept things from Silver?"

Teddy frowned. "Kept things from her? Like what?"

"I don't know," Liam shrugged, trying not to keep it casual. "Like um, hanging out with friends she doesn't know about or go places without telling her?"

"Not really," he admitted with a frown. "I mean, she's my girlfriend, not my mom. I don't clear my schedule with her. But we don't have any secrets."

Liam nodded. It was a stupid question and he felt like an idiot for asking. This wasn't about telling Annie every detail of every waking moment of every day, and he knew it. They reached a junction in the halls and as Liam went his own way he had the sudden urge to bail and skip the rest of the afternoon. The weather was typically gorgeous and he could get in some waves before the beaches were swarmed by the afterschool crowd. He'd probably sleep through the rest of his classes anyway.

Sighing, he trudged onward and made it to class just as the bell rang. He slumped in a chair in the back of the room and slouched low, trying to blend into the background so when – not if – he fell asleep no one would notice. Annie hadn't actually condemned him for his two weeks of truancy, but he knew she disapproved and if the fact that he cared meant he was whipped, then so be it. No matter how much he dressed it up in sun, sand and surf, Liam knew he just wanted to run away, this time to hide from the last truth he couldn't bring himself to tell Annie.

But he knew he had to. The longer he put it off the worse it would be. Eventually, the scales would tip so far against him he'd lose Annie all over again.


	17. Chapter 17

_AN: I have been terrible at responding to replies this time around, but I want to let you know I read and cherish each and every one and thank you SO much for them. _

_That said, a few people asked me what I thought of the finale and since this chapter touches on the same issues as that ep, I decided to post my thoughts here. See self-indulgent ramble after the chapter. ;p_

Chapter 17

Debbie Wilson took a sip of her visually disturbing, but surprisingly delicious bright blue sangria and let her gaze travel idly around the restaurant. _The club_, she mentally corrected. There was a difference and while the line may have been fine, Debbie was fairly certain anyplace that blasted music as loud as this one fell firmly into the latter category.

The lighting was so low that Debbie could barely see her companion across the tiny round topped table. Nevermind conversation, eye contact was nearly impossible. Not that Colleen noticed. Her attention was focused squarely on the five star hotel across the street. Despite the tinted windows, they could see the brightly lit entrance perfectly from their vantage point. And the view, rather than the ambiance inspired this little trip outside Debbie's comfort zone.

Not that the club wasn't without its charm. As little as ten years ago, she would have loved coming here with her girlfriends for a night out. With Annie and Dixon frighteningly close to the age of most of the club's patrons, however, Debbie felt a little silly ordering drinks from the bartender who was almost young enough to be her son. She looked over at the most brightly lit area of the bar and couldn't hold back a smirk.

He'd asked for her ID.

Bolstered by that thought, Debbie sat up straighter, adjusted the swooping neckline of her black sleeveless dress and drained the rest of her sangria. Eyeing Colleen's untouched purple margarita, she decided to be a little more adventurous and try a vodka martini. Dry. And definitely not bright blue.

"I'm getting another drink," Debbie leaned over the table and shouted close to Colleen's ear. "Do you want anything?"

Colleen waved a hand, barely taking her eyes off the window. Absently, she twirled her cell phone in a random circle on the table. "Say hi to the bartender for me."

Debbie felt her cheeks flush, but she grinned and wove her way through the gyrating bodies on the dance floor that took up the majority of the first floor. The line at the bar was three deep, so she passed the wait time by scrutinizing her fellow patrons. By the time she placed her order, her confidence had skyrocketed. The low lighting hid the fact that more than a few of the women present were _much _older than twenty-one or twenty-two.

The bartender was just as charming this visit as he'd been the first and while Debbie wasn't naïve enough to think it meant anything, the flirtatious banter felt good. She couldn't remember the last time Harry had looked at her with anything other than resignation.

"Anything?" Debbie asked, half sliding, half hopping back onto the high stool across from Colleen. The other woman shook her head.

"No."

"You're sure that's the right hotel?" she pressed, taking a sip of her martini. The cool liquid sailed smoothly down her throat and spread warmly through her veins.

"Definitely," Colleen replied without hesitation. Debbie took another, bigger drink and fought back against the boredom that tried to settle over her. Staking out the hotel was important, not just to Colleen, but to Liam and in a way to her and Annie as well. Debbie's eyes had adjusted more to the dim lighting and even in shadow she could see the drawn lines bracketing Colleen's mouth and fanning out from her eyes. The other woman may have brought this upon herself by her shoddy taste in men, but no one deserved this kind of constant misery.

Across the street, a black Lexus rolled under the canopy and stopped at the curb, somehow managing to project the arrogance of its owner even as the valet climbed out.

"Holy shit," Colleen cursed, grabbing Debbie's arm in excited surprise. "That's it. That's Jeffery's car."

Without further conversation, Debbie drained the rest of her martini and gathered her purse. Colleen was already halfway to the door, brushing by the club goers without care. Debbie grabbed the Gucci clutch her friend had left behind and chased after her as quickly as her strappy black stilettos would allow.

By the time Debbie caught up to Colleen, the other woman was standing in the shadow of a palm tree, taking advantage of the darkness between street lights and furiously snapping away at the scene across the street. Just as Debbie breathlessly joined her, the Lexus pulled away from the curb and melted into the night, followed closely by a cherry red Porsche Boxster.

"Did you get it?" she gasped, handing the quilted clutch out to her friend, even though Colleen was too entranced with her cell phone to notice.

"Oh, you better believe it," she practically crowed. A brilliant smile lit up her whole face, making her glow even in the shadows. Triumphantly, she handed over her phone, trading it for her clutch. Nervously, Debbie scrolled through the photos, nerves she hadn't know she felt twisting her stomach into knots. Jeffery exiting the hotel with a blonde. Jeffery and the blond holding hands as they walked toward the Porsche. Jeffery opening the door for the blonde.

And the piece de resistance: Jeffery and the blonde kissing, their hands all over each other in a way that definitely did not say "thank you for a lovely and productive business meeting."

Debbie grinned and handed the phone back to Colleen. "We got him."

Tears glistened in the other woman's eyes, but her smile never faltered. "We did. We got him."

* * *

Annie couldn't think of a better way to end her day than tangled up naked in bed with Liam.

Of course, with Liam's touch setting her nerves on fire, she couldn't really _think _about anything.

Soon after Teddy had given Liam the keys to the yacht, Annie had quickly discovered that the cabin with the king size bed and ridiculously high thread count sheets was still a thrill even without the threat of being literally caught in the act. With nobody but Liam to hear, she was free to cry, scream and moan to her heart's content while he pushed her to heights so freaking high, she was afraid to look down. Mostly, though, she just tried to catch her breath.

At the moment, Liam's lips on her throat as they started to rock together in a familiar motion were making it impossible to do even that. Blindly and with little finesse, she guided his mouth to hers, sinking her fingers through his hair as she mimicked the actions of their bodies with her lips and tongue. During their two weeks apart, she'd missed everybody about him, even the way he tasted, the sounds he made when they were together like this and now she couldn't get enough.

Coherent thought gave way to pure feeling and Annie willingly gave herself over. The tension between them wound tighter, higher and her head fell back against the pillow. Liam gripped her hips with both hands and then slid lower over her bare flesh, cupping her tightly against him.

She cried out his name – at least she thought she did - as her world sharpened to a single point before exploding into a flood of sensation that made time lose all sense of meaning. She could have ridden the high for seconds or hours.

Annie's first distinct impression as she slowly returned to the land of the fully functioning was Liam trailing kisses over her chest, the hollow at the base of her throat and her shoulder as he rolled to his side next to her. Absently, she mourned the loss of being so closely connected to him and linked their fingers. The sounds of their ragged, heavy breathing were the only in the room.

Completely blissed out, Annie curled into Liam's side as soon as her pulse slowed into something resembling normal and she caught her breath. Seconds after she buried her face in his shoulder, her hair fanning out on his bare chest, she felt his hand curl around her hip, fingers lazily caressing the smooth skin. She mentally offered a quick prayer that she never, ever took any of this for granted.

The cabin on the yacht was pleasantly warm and waves gently crashed against the hull, rocking it. After a week of school and her internship, not to mention the utterly mind-blowing sex she'd just thoroughly enjoyed, Annie could have easily fallen asleep and not woken up until the sun crept over the horizon in the morning. Somehow, she doubted Debbie would be okay with that. Better find some way to stay awake.

With effort, she lifted her head. "Liam?"

"Hmmm?" he responded, without opening his eyes.

"Where do you want to go next year?" she asked, propping her chin on her hand. It was the first question that had popped into her head, just something to start conversation. As soon as she the words past her lips, however, she realized she was deeply interested in his answer.

Liam frowned, opening his eyes one at a time. "Where do I want to _what?" _

"Go," she repeated. "Like, to college."

The hand on her hip stilled briefly and then resumed its random, soothing pattern. The frown marring his brow relaxed and he closed his eyes again. "Where do you want to go?"

"Well, Juliard would be…amazing, but _so_ out of my league," Annie replied immediately and despite the self-conscious flush that spread across her body at talking about something so revealing and personal, began listing the schools that interested her. "Meryl Streep when to Yale, so of course that would be cool. Ithaca, Cornell, NYU and Boston University are supposed to be good, but I'm kinda liking Carnegie Mellon right now."

"Right now?" he repeated and even though his eyes were closed, she could envision the teasing glint in those impossibly blue orbs.

"It changes," Annie admitted with a grin. "Sometimes daily."

"Those are all east coast schools, aren't they?" Liam said, finally accepting that Annie wasn't going to let him doze off.

"They are," she admitted and poked him in the chest as a warning. "And before you even _think _that has anything to do with you and how much I know you miss New York, let me just point out that I've been thinking about this since I was twelve. Not everything is about you."

"Just most things, right," he laughed while Annie rolled her eyes.

"So, seriously, what about you?" she pressed, curiosity mounting. "Where have you been fantasizing about?"

Liam took a deep breath and propped his free arm behind his head, his gaze wandering to the window and the star spangled night sky beyond. "The Canary Islands, Kandahar, Isla Ensenada, the Gold Coast…Waikiki."

Annie's expression faltered. "Those…aren't colleges."

"No, they're not," he exhaled and gazed at her evenly. "They're some of the best surf spots in the world. When I was building the boat had the idea that after high school I'd sail to all those places and ride some real waves."

"Oh."

"You asked me where I fantasized about, Annie," Liam reminded her, noting the disappointment in her tone that she hadn't been able to mask. He didn't seem surprised at her reaction, either. "That's never been college."

Growing up with a high school principal for a father, the idea was difficult for Annie to fathom. "But you _do _plan on going, right?"

"I…I don't know," he shrugged, an awkward task with one arm pinned behind his head and the other still wrapped around her. Annie said nothing, continuing to fix him with a disbelieving expression that eventually made him squirm and further confess. "Okay, if I had to say yes or no right this second it would be…no. I don't plan to go to college."

Annie was stunned, her stomach a twisty knot of dread. Thoughtless questions began spilling from her mouth and she sat up, tucking the sheet under her arms. "But…the boat's gone. What are you going to do after graduation now? Keep living on Teddy's dad's yacht and spend your days working on your car?"

"Hey, just because you've bought into the idea that college is a requirement for life doesn't meant it's true," Liam pointed out. "Plenty of people never go to college and get by just fine."

"Do you know the unemployment statistics for those without a college degree?"

Liam snorted. "Do you?"

"Well, no. Not exactly, but I'm sure they're bad," Annie declared. Panic seized her heart. They were a month into their senior year. There wasn't a lot of time left for applications and essays and all the preparation that went with a college search. Something must be stopping him, making him think he couldn't get into college. Annie leapt on the idea, plans forming faster than she could speak. "Is it your grades? If they're bad, it's not too late, you know, we can bring them up. We'll get you a tutor. I'll help you. Whatever it takes."

"What? No…Jesus, Annie, my grades are fine," Liam protested.

"Then _why _don't you want to go?" she exclaimed.

"Because I don't," he exploded, finally sitting up as well and glaring at her. "I don't like school. I don't have a clue what I want to study. Even if I did, who says that's what I'm going to want to do when I'm forty? So, why should I bust my ass so I can spend the next four years sleeping through boring lectures and wishing I were somewhere else?"

"Because, it's…it's what…you…_do._" Annie gaped and tried valiantly to argue with his logic.

After a few moments of strained silence, Liam scowled and pushed away the sheet pooled at his waist. "I'm gonna take a shower."

"No, Liam…wait!" Annie made a feeble attempt to stop him, but he ignored her and stalked to the bathroom. She was so distraught she didn't even have a chance to admire the view. Seconds after the door slammed shut, she heard water running, splashing against the tiles.

Annie closed her eyes, feeling dizzy and bewildered. And guilty. The question had been innocent, but her reaction... That had been so typically Debbie Wilson it made her cringe. According to her parents college equaled success, the only success and it was something she'd always accepted as fact, never questioned. Apparently, it also made her sound like a judgmental bitch.

The shower was still running minutes later when Annie sighed, heavy hearted, and started looking for her clothes. Regardless of whether or not she understood or agreed, she was so tired of fighting with Liam. Their two week hiatus was still too close, the wound in her heart too raw and she nearly threw up at the idea that she'd accidentally caused another rift so soon. Intending on dressing quickly and quietly slipping out, Annie had found her bra and panties and was zipping up her jean skirt when she realized that Liam had picked her up and unless she wanted to walk, was her only way home.

"Dammit," she sighed and sunk to the mattress at the foot of the bed, holding her head in her hands. This was not how she'd envisioned the night ending. Through her fingers, she caught sight of her shirt, tangled up with some of Liam's clothes in the corner. Wearily, she rose and tried to pluck it from the pile, but she snagged a pair of jeans as well, causing something to fall out of the pocket and landed on the thick carpet with a soft thud. Annie pulled the black semi-sheer ruffled top over her head and reached for whatever had slipped out.

"Whoa," she murmured when she saw the thick wad of cash. It was rolled, tightly, the top bill a hundred. Annie frowned and peeled back the corner, finding another hundred. And then another. One by one, she pulled back bills and discovered they were all hundreds; by her count at least fifteen. In the bathroom, the water stopped as she contemplated where Liam had gotten the money and equally important, why he'd so casually left them in the pocket of a pair of dirty jeans.

Before Annie could arrive at any answers, the doorknob clicked. Quickly, she put the money back in the pocket and tossed them into the corner just as Liam emerged, wrapped in a towel, his hair tousled and dripping wet. This time Annie did have the capacity to admire the view. He barely spared her a glance as he moved to the built in dresser and yanked open a drawer, but she caught the wounded look in his eye.

"Liam," Annie silently crossed the thick beige carpet to stand next to him. Swallowing her pride, she prayed that he believed her. "I'm sorry. Please, I don't want to fight with you."

Liam gripped the edge of the drawer and sighed, the hostility waning. "I don't want to fight with you, either. But I'm not going to pretend I'm into the college thing."

"You don't have to," she promised and despite the way her upbringing rebelled, really meant it. "I'm sorry I jumped all over you like that. I just…there's never been an option. College has always been part of the plan for me."

"Your plan or your parents'?" Liam asked with a raised brow.

"Is there a difference?" Annie folded her arms and shrugged sheepishly. Liam said nothing, clearly waiting for an answer. "Okay, fine. It may be their plan, but it's one I happen to like. I want the college experience."

"I have plans, Annie. Things I want to do, places I want to see," he explained, shutting the drawer and facing her. Drops of water fell from his wet hair and landed sparkling on his bare chest. "But I want to actually _live _my life, not just learn about it in theory."

The pointed comment didn't go unnoticed. "I thought you said you didn't want to fight," Annie shot him a warning look that he answered with an infuriating smirk.

"I don't," he promised, stealing a kiss and opening the drawer again. "I'm kidding. Kind of."

"You are really lucky I'm so in love with you," she said sternly, and grabbed his chin to return the gesture. She lingered when they came apart and whispered over his lips. "Are we good?"

"Yeah," he murmured and Annie's eyes drifted shut in relief. "We're fine. And for the record, Pittsburgh? It's a cool city."

Annie grinned, her eyes shining. "I'll be out on the deck," she said, kissing him again. She reveled in the sensation of Liam's eyes drinking in the sway of her hips on the short journey to the door. On the threshold she paused, having caught sight of the jeans she'd inadvertently searched a question sprung to mind. "Liam, did you get a job or something while you weren't in school?"

"What?" He'd pulled on some boxers and was just stepping into a clean pair of jeans. "No. I probably should have. I didn't do much besides hang around the yacht and work on my car. Why?"

"No reason, I was just wondering what you did with all your free time, that's all," Annie shrugged, smiled and left the room. The darkness of the lounge soon swallowed her and the smile was replaced by a frown of confusion and just enough worry to be annoying.

If Liam hadn't gotten a job…where the hell did he get fifteen hundred dollars?

* * *

_AN: Okay, the finale. Firstly, I loved how the writers sent Liam off for the summer. That was just perfect and SO much better than the other rumors floating around. Liam in the military? Seriously? Have you met the guy? Ugh, no. Just. No. Liam playing the ultimate loner and fulfilling all my romantic anti-hero notions about his character by getting a job on a boat for the summer? Um, yes please. :D After a good half a season where Liam was a watered down version of himself if for no other reason than a lack of story or anything to do, the last ep was brilliant. Annie's reaction to the news that Liam didn't share her dreams of college was equally well done – although breaking up with him and pulling the whole 'I can't trust you' card was a touch much. Still, it's Annie and who does extreme-knee-jerk-reactions better than our fair heroine? Their scene at the bachelor/bachelorette debacle was easily some of the best acting I've seen from Matt and Shenae on this show. It's like the script finally lived up to their ability and they got to shine. And of course, that last scene on the dock was sublime. _

_I applauded the show for bringing up what I always thought would be a great issue for Liam and Annie considering that while they're perfect for each other, in a lot of ways they are from opposite worlds. My only complaint is that they crammed it into one episode while it could have been something that played out over many. So we could, you know, ACTUALLY SEE IT. Gasp! What a concept. ;p It's such realistic conflict I probably could have made it the major plot of this fic…if I didn't already have another plan in mind. Hence this decidedly less angsty treatment on the topic of college. It's amazing what a difference timing can make on a situation, no?_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Liam's alarm went off what felt like mere seconds after his head hit the pillow. The horizon glowed with the first faint traces of sunrise, but the cabin was still dark and quiet. Muttering unintelligible curses, he groped for his cell phone on the night stand and silenced the shrill beeping. For a few seconds he struggled in the silence to gather his bearings.

There had been a race the night before in an absurdly upscale neighborhood. When Liam arrived at the designated starting line, he'd almost backed out right there. The classier the surroundings, the higher the stakes and the more likely they all were to get busted by the cops. Of course, the rich kids that frequented those races also brought more money and less talent to the table. Trevor promised he wouldn't find an easier win if he kept racing for the next twelve months. It was the Indy 500 minus the skill. So, Liam had raced and without even squealing a tire, he'd won. The pot was a ridiculous five grand and it pushed his total winnings to nearly four times that.

The winnings.

Suddenly wide awake, Liam's eyes flew open and he stared for a moment at the ceiling. Throwing back the sheets, he padded barefoot and in the dark out of the cabin to the full bar in the lounge. Aside from the bedroom, he'd barely touched anything on the yacht, still feeling like a glorified guest who overstayed his welcome. The bar was pristine – if a bit dusty from lack of use – and fully stocked. Ignoring the cabinets full of top shelf liquor, he opened the bottom door on the lower left. Rummaging through various odds and ends – high tech bottle openers, a leaded crystal punch bowl, and several martini shakers – Liam pulled out a novelty champagne bucket that must have been left over from one of Spence Montgomery's last parties. Designed like an open film canister, it couldn't have held more than a handful of ice and a single bottle, but it was the perfect size to hold nearly twenty thousand dollars in tightly rolled bills.

Liam flipped the switch hidden beneath the bar and the recessed lighting flared to life. Prying off the authentic looking tin lid, he tipped the bucket over and stared in awe at the cash resting benignly within. Mostly hundreds with a few fifties and twenties thrown in for variety, he pulled out a roll and stripped off the rubber band holding it together. Peeling off a hundred dollar bill, he traced Benjamin Franklin's outline almost reverently with the tip of his finger.

The yacht bobbed on the surface of the harbor, but Liam didn't notice, more accustomed than ever to life on the water. Twenty grand was a lot of money, more than he'd ever seen at one time, let alone possessed. More than enough for all sorts of things an almost eighteen-year-old was just starting to consider with graduation looming in a matter of months. Twenty grand could cover rent for a year in an apartment, or even a down payment on a house. Annie would have seen college tuition staring back at her from that champagne bucket. So would his mother.

Liam blew out a deep breath and returned the cash to its hiding place. Colleen had never been shy about her hopes and dreams for him, but Liam had barely humored her. College had never and would never appeal to him. There was a time, not so long ago, when he would have presented his mother with the money and urged her leave Jeffery with him. It could be like it had been in New York, before his mom decided her dignity had a price.

But those days were gone. Liam stripped and jumped in the shower, trying not to take the luxury accommodations for granted. If everything went according to plan, his days on the yacht were numbered. He'd finally decided what to do with the money he was winning; a selfish decision that took him a long time to accept.

Liam was going to buy his freedom and in less than a month when he turned eighteen, nobody would ever be able to take it away from him again.

* * *

An hour or so later, Liam paced the worn, wooden planks of the less prestigious end of the marina and waited for the old man to show up. For weeks, every time Liam had looked, he'd been there, working tirelessly on a boat that seemed in no better shape for all the tender loving care. The paint was still chipped, the sails still ragged and torn and the door to the cabin below decks had nearly warped off the hinges. Despite all the cosmetic shortcomings, Liam noticed two very important things. First, the hull appeared as sound as ever and the boat bobbed proudly on the gentle tide. Second, the For Sale sign was still tacked to the helm.

"You know, if I could get my grandson out of bed as early as you like to greet the day, I'd have her fixed up by now," the gravelly voice Liam had only heard once before made him jump. The old man dropped an rickety lobster crate full of cleaning supplies to the dock and removed his cap to wipe the sweat from his brow. The sun had begun its climb over the horizon and already the temperature had jumped several degrees. "A sunrise is a beautiful thing. That kid likes to sleep until nearly sun_set _most days."

Liam fought a sheepish grin and looked down at his shoes. "Yeah, well if I had my choice, I'd still be asleep."

"Yeah?" The old man stooped to hoist the heavy crate off the ground, but Liam beat him to it and stood unflinching beneath the old man's appraising gaze. "What's on your mind, kid?"

"I want to make you an offer," Liam made his declaration in a rush, uttering aloud for the first time the idea he'd been contemplating since his boat went up in flames. The old man's white eyebrows disappeared beneath the rim of his hat. Liam shifted the crate in his arms and didn't look away.

"I told you, she's not pretty, but I won't give her away," the old man crossed his arms.

"I'm not asking you to," Liam promised. "And I probably can't pay you what you want for her, but I'm guessing you haven't had any other offers."

"I'm listening," The sun crept high enough to dispel the shadows around the pier and Liam caught a glimmer of amusement in the old man's pale green eyes.

"I'll give you twenty grand cash," Liam's heart started to race, just a little, at the possibility of this dream becoming a reality. "And my help fixing her up."

The old man said nothing and rubbed a gnarled hand over his scruffy jaw. He glanced at the boat floating on the calm water and then back at Liam. "You know, I've seen you come and go from that fancy yacht, but that doesn't make you qualified to take care of my baby."

"No, it doesn't," Liam agreed.

"Then why should I say agree to your terms and turn this boat over to you?"

Liam shrugged and tried to keep pride from coloring his words. "Because I built one."

* * *

Annie had been staring blankly at the same page of her Calculus textbook for twenty minutes and counting, but she barely noticed. Her mind was elsewhere. Suddenly, Silver snatched the pen out of her hand without a word.

"What the-?" Annie's eyes went wide and she gaped at her friend in surprise. Silver didn't even lift her gaze from the paperback on film history gripped in one hand. They were sharing a working lunch outside in the gorgeous sunshine. Between her internship and Liam, Annie's time for homework had taken a hit and if she didn't pass the midterm in Calc with flying colors, Debbie would be on her case. Somehow, she didn't think her mother would be asking her to cut back on how much time she spent at the Playhouse. Annie gestured to her pen. "If you needed that, you could have asked."

"Oh, I don't," Silver shook her head and tossed the pen back at Annie. It landed on the textbook and rolled toward the spine. "But you've been tapping that thing against the wall for the past ten minutes and I was starting to go insane."

"I was?" Annie glanced down at the pen as if it were some foreign object she'd never seen before.

"Yeah, and have you even done a single equation?" Silver pushed her hair off her forehead and leaned against the pillar. "I thought you said you had to start acing your tests or your mom was going to freak."

With a heavy sigh, Annie closed her text book and propped her elbows on her knees to bury her face in her hands. When she spoke her words were muffled. "I did."

"So, what's got you all distracted?"

Annie peered through her fingers, hesitating. Silver had been her sounding board for all her problems since they'd rekindled their friendship. In those few months Annie had had _a lot _of problems and she was starting to feel guilty for taking advantage of Silver's always ready shoulder to cry on.

Then again, if she didn't share her concerns with someone, it would just eat away at her until she either did something colossally stupid or…well, really there was only that one outcome. Annie groaned. "It's-."

"Don't say Liam," Silver held up her hands dramatically as if to ward off whatever Annie was about to say and closed her eyes. "I swear, if you say Liam, I will scream."

Annie bit her lip and offered a smile that fell just shy of innocent.

"Oh god, it is about Liam," Silver exclaimed. "What did he do now?"

"Geez, why don't you shriek a little louder," Annie glanced around furtively for curious stares from the gossiping masses. She'd done an admirable job ignoring the West Bev rumor mill, but she still didn't want to add fuel to the dwindling fire that was her relationship with Liam. "I think there are a few people on the other side of campus who didn't hear you."

"What did he do?" Silver asked, carefully annunciating each word, although at a mercifully lower volume. "Or should I ask who? Because if you think he's hooked up with Naomi again, I don't know, there might be some truth to it. Getting tricked into falling on her lips once is believable. This is Naomi we're talking about. But twice? No one is that-."

"Silver, shut up," Annie ordered. "I don't think he's cheating on me."

"Oh," her friend blinked, her interest piqued. "So, what is it then?"

"I'm not sure how to explain it," Annie began. "It's little things. He's tired all the time. And not just 'stayed up too late playing video games tired', I'm talking 'fall asleep at the wheel' exhausted. He's missing phone calls and not returning texts, especially late at night. It's just…not like Liam."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Since we got back together," she admitted.

Silver pondered the information and toyed with the bright green glass pendant hanging from a black chord around her neck. It was the exact same shade as her silky halter top. "He had a lot of extra credit and homework to make up after skipping all that school, didn't he? Maybe it's just that. School kicks all of our asses once in awhile. Even Liam."

"Yeah, that's what he says, and that's what I figured…until the other night," Annie sighed. Her curiosity about the money she'd discovered, tucked away in the pocket of his jeans, had evolved into queasy anxiety. Wherever it had come from, whatever it was for, she couldn't see how it could be good. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she filled Silver in on the discovery. "Fifteen hundred dollars, Silver. He doesn't have a job. I asked him. Where would he get that kind of money?"

"From his mom?"

"I'm pretty sure right now Liam wouldn't ask Colleen to spit on him if he were on fire," Sharing the burden of her worries with Silver had made Annie feel slightly better…and slightly worse. Just like anything else, saying it aloud made it real. Uncrossing her legs, she stretched them out along the sun warmed ledge and closed her eyes. "I hate this. I wish I'd never found the stupid money. I don't know what to do."

"I suppose just asking Liam about it is out of the question," Silver raised a brow. Annie opened one eye and gave her friend a look that quickly put that notion to rest. "Guess not. I suppose it would be kind of awkward to explain. Hey, Honey. While you were in the shower I was snooping through your clothes and found your secret stash of ill gotten cash. Mind telling me where you got it? Cause it's so totally my business."

"I wasn't snooping. It was an accident," Annie protested, albeit weakly. She found the money by chance, sure, but she could have just put it back where it came from. Instead, she studied it, counted it and guiltily hid it before Liam could see. "I just…I don't want to rock the boat, you know? It feels like we just got back together and I don't want to jeopardize that. Plus, I'm his girlfriend, not his mother. He doesn't need to tell me everything."

"It sounds like you've already made up your mind."

Annie retrieved her pen from the spine of her textbook and twirled it between her fingers. The urge to start tapping restlessly again was overwhelming and she had to make a conscious effort to resist. "Liam and money is a touchy subject. Anything that threatens his independence…I'm just worried about him."

Silver had nothing to say to that and as the silence grew, Annie tried to focus on her textbook. Calculus didn't care about her troubles or what happened to Liam. The figures and formulas blurred as her eyes started to water. Liam was brave, fearless to the point of recklessness and as he'd so clearly demonstrated over and over while she'd known him, prone to getting himself in trouble. She just wanted, no she _needed _him to be okay.

"Enough of this," Silver announced, closing her book on film history with a definitive snap and doing the same to Annie's thicker, heavier textbook. "This is obviously killing you, so…we need to do something."

"Like what? I thought we pretty much decided there was nothing _to _do."

"Figure out what Liam's doing without him knowing," Silver replied, making it sound simple. "Look, if it's important enough, he'll come clean eventually. If it's just lame or embarrassing or something, you can at least stop agonizing over it, right?"

"That sounds great, but…how do we do that?"

Silver grinned. "Oh, don't worry. I have a plan."

* * *

Curled up against Liam's side in the front seat of the Judge, Annie was blissfully unaware of the rest of the world. They were parked in front of the Playhouse and what had been meant as a goodbye kiss as Liam dropped her off, had turned into a full on make out session that Annie couldn't quite seem to break away from.

Liam's right arm was draped over the back seat, the other wrapped tightly around Annie's waist, pulling her so close she was nearly on his lap. If not for the steering wheel getting in the way, she happily would have crawled closer. He was kissing her slowly and thoroughly, so deep she could feel it in her toes and even if she'd had ideas to the contrary there was nothing to do but kiss him back.

"This happens every time you give me a ride," she murmured during a much needed break for air.

"What happens?" he asked, but brought his lips crashing down on hers again before she had a chance to speak. Her fingers fisted the fabric of his white t-shirt.

"This," she said, her lips still brushing his. "You distract me and make me late."

"No one's stopping you," he pointed out, but she could feel his smile as she got lost in him again. The way Liam drove, they always arrived at the theater in plenty of time for Annie to check in, but somehow she usually found herself making excuses for tardiness. As a result there had been more 'traffic accidents' between West Beverly and the Playhouse in the past two months than any other time in history.

"Mmm, okay, enough. I've got to go," Annie laughed and managed to fend off his good natured protests. She scooted back to the passenger side of the car, as much to put some distance between them as to have room to straighten out her clothes. A flash of silver in the side mirror caught her eye and her stomach flipped. Clearing her throat to hide her sudden nerves, she asked innocently. "So what are doing tonight to keep from missing me?"

Liam smirked. "The usual. Surf practice and then finish some of my missing assignments so Mr. Matthews will get off my back."

Annie grabbed her backpack and froze. Liam was lying to her, and while she was doing the same to him, in a way, it still threw her. The surf team didn't have practice that night, Dixon had said as much before school when they'd been going through the usual routine of figuring out the car situation. Vaguely sick to her stomach, Annie hefted the bag to her lap and forced a smile. "Mr. Matthews is such a jerk, being concerned about your education. Who does he think he is? A teacher?"

Liam rolled his eyes and said goodbye as she climbed out of the car. At the other end of the parking lot, Annie could see the glint of a silver bumper. The Plan, Silver's plan, was in motion. After a few days discussing the best way to discover what Liam was up to when he wasn't with Annie or in school, they'd decided that today was the day. As an afterthought, a last ditch effort to avoid the many ways it could go wrong and to give Liam a chance to come clean, she turned back and leaned down to peer through the open window. "Have you, um, gotten any further finding a job?"

A shadow passed across Liam's face, but it could have just been a shift in the clouds over the sun. He regarded her for a moment, before putting one hand on the wheel and staring through the front window. "Nah. Not yet."

"That's cool," Annie shrugged, overly nonchalant. "I was just curious. I'll see you later."

The way he looked back at her and offered another quick grin before backing out of the parking spot and driving away melted some of the tension locked within her chest. She watched him approach the exit, the huge, orange beast of a car easy to spot, even in rush hour traffic, and shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

Just as Liam pulled out of the lot, taking a right into the flow of cars, Silver pulled up beside her, behind the wheel of Annie's silver Saturn. Annie didn't waste words, quickly opening the passenger door and slipping inside. "Hurry, don't lose him."

"Don't worry," Silver assured her, expertly maneuvering the vehicle out of the Playhouse's parking lot and onto the street. "Liam may be the badass driver, but I've lived here all my life. I know these roads."

"You've got to be kidding me," Dixon piped up from the backseat and Annie turned to find her brother looking at her completely aghast. "You're actually _tailing_ Liam? What are you now, Thelma and Louise?"

"What are you even doing here?" Annie demanded. "I thought Ivy was giving you a ride."

"She is busy, and she is not a taxi," her brother replied and Annie suspected the taxi bit wasn't his own.

"Well, neither am I," Silver declared, weaving around and ahead of several cars in order to follow Liam onto the freeway. "So, sit back and shut up because this car doesn't make pit stops. Louise is behind the wheel."

"How come you're Louise?" Annie laughed despite the tight knot of dread and anticipation sitting like a rock in her stomach.

"Because I'm totally Susan Sarandon," Silver winked. "Thelma was the sweet, pretty one anyway. Hey, Dixon can I borrow your phone?"

"What's wrong with yours?" Dixon grumbled, but handed the phone over anyway. Silver took the small device and tucked it into the side pocket in the door.

"Nothing," She addressed his reflection in the rearview mirror. "I just don't want you to text Liam and warn him."

Dixon groaned and slouched in the back seat. Annie looked at her best friend in awe. "Have you done this before or something?"

Silver grinned in response and focused on the road. Even before the marina came into view, Annie recognized the route. A twinge of indignation flared in her heart, although the surf practice Liam had claimed he was going never existed. Any guilt or hesitation dissolved. Whatever Liam was up to, she'd find out tonight.


End file.
